TES Episode 9: A Dark Offensive
by John the Enforcer
Summary: War is an ugly thing...and it's this very thing that John and his friends must prevent in the nineth episode...


THE ENFORCER SAGA  
  
Chapter 9: A Dark Offensive  
  
By  
  
John "the Echidna" Fadeley  
  
The Dark Legion...a vile, military cult of echidnas on the planet Mobius, followers of a madman named Demitri who would have ended the Floating Island, after it had risen from a disaster that would have ended it earlier. Because of this madman's devotion to technology, his followers removed parts of their bodies and replaced them with metallic or cybernetic parts. They have existed for hundreds of years, fearing only the Guardians of the Floating Island...and something that they regret creating even to this day....  
  
The date: March 23, 3238, 9:54 AM  
  
The place: A resting quarters in an underground lair....  
  
"Yes...that's it...lower, lower, lower....Aaaaaaah...there. You've hit it." the treacherous Chandralite echidna Prince Jirrard said as a pair of lithe and gorgeous female Chandralites massaged his back.   
  
It was almost like old times for the former ruler of Bumeria, Chandral's only desert region: ruling over his pathetic subjects, beautiful slave girls waiting on him hand and foot...  
  
"Why, Jirrard...all of these ladies and you've left me out?" a silvery voice asked. Jirrard looked up and saw the one female who truly caught his eye, the daughter of the Supreme Ruler of Chandral: Princess Adonna-Lyn! Oddly enough, she was slinking up to him, wearing an outfit so revealing, even his slaves wouldn't wear it for fear of never living it down.  
  
It was comprised of a long, "open-leg" skirt that hung down from a gold ring around her hips, and a considerabley diminuitive top that would even put slaves of Hutts to shame. Yeah. That's the whole outfit!  
  
Jirrard grinned lustfully. It was almost TOO good to be true. Ever since he had laid his dark-green eyes on the echidna princess, he knew that she had to be his...one way, or another.  
  
Adonna-Lyn drew closer and closer to him...even closer than he would have expected of her, considering (for some reason HE could not fathom) that she hated his guts. "Jirrard, your lips seem so dry..let me moisten them for you." she said, puckering her lips.  
  
"Indeed you shall, my dear Adonna-Lyn." Jirrard thought as his front dreadlocks pushed her face into his, savoring the moment.  
  
As they parted for a moment, Adonna-Lyn then (in a warty-sounding voice, no less), said, "Time to wake up, Jirrard."  
  
Nearly coming out of his ecstacy, he asked, "Eh heh heh heh...what?"  
  
"I said, 'Time to wake up'!" the echidna princess said...as her face changed into the pig-like face of a Gamorrean female...  
  
Jirrard couldn't even speak for a moment...  
  
Sleet and Dingo stood outside of the room Jirrard was sleeping in, awaiting his eventual reaction, counting aloud, "5...4...3...2...1..."  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Jirrard screamed out loud. He then rolled off of his bed, and began spitting all over the place, trying to remove the foul taste of the kiss he thought he was enjoying with Adonna-Lyn.  
  
"It's about time you woke up, you lazy bum!" the Gamorrean female snapped...as it shape-shifted back into the vixen enchantress Blue Fang, "I swear, you do this every morning!" She now wore a flowing black coat with red trim. She still wore her Mobian garb...but her normally light footfalls were now accompanied by the clinking of small containers made of glass...more of her accursed potions hidden in pockets on the insides of the coat.  
  
"I was planning to sleep in, especially after our most recent FAILURE against the Enforcer. My bottom still aches from where his crocodile friend bit me!" Jirrard whined.  
  
"Well, if it weren't for me, that crocodile friend of his would have taken a chunk out." Blue Fang snapped, "Now get off the floor and get ready! It is almost time." With that, the seductive vixen left.  
  
"It is almost time, indeed...time for me to be rid of you, you temptress!" Jirrard hissed under his breath.  
  
"Prince Jirrard Calyon Echidna?" a female voice said behind him. He leaped over his bed and went for his scimitar...just as a hand emerged from its shadow and pulled it into the shadow!  
  
"What the harak'tha?!" Jirrard gasped...as he got kicked in the face and was sent down to the floor. A long blade was then thrusted into his face, nearly pricking his skin.  
  
"I would not try that again, if I were you." the ninja-garbed female standing over him said, "If it wasn't for my mistress' wishes, I'd cut you down like the dog you are."  
  
Jirrard looked at the female. She had the anatomical form of a vixen...except that she had five extra tails. Her face (with the exception of her cold, dark-blue eyes) was covered completely in a dark tunic of sorts.  
  
He heard a lot of munching sounds. He looked and saw a racoon-like sentient with a dog-like face. He wore the same garb as this mysterious female, had a pair of chains across his chest in an X-shape...and was munching on a pair of riceballs in each of his hand contentedly.  
  
The female then split the sword she was holding in two, now holding two swords...and used the one she split off to knock the riceballs out of the male's hands.  
  
"Tanikai! Cease with that at once!" the female shouted at the racoon-dog.  
  
"But, Kazuna...I'm hungry! I haven't eaten anything since we got here." Tanikai whimpered.  
  
"When do you NOT eat?!" Kazuna hissed, rejoining her swords and pointing them at the echidna prince's throat.  
  
Now Jirrard realized that these were Chandralites, given their mastery of the Nimjaka ("killer shadow" in the Chandral tongue) arts. The female standing over him was a kitsune, while her partner was a tanuki. If these two were skilled in Nimjaka, they had to be thieves...or assassins!  
  
"What do you want from me?" Jirrard asked, the blade of Kazuna's granaku still pointed at his throat.  
  
"It is not what we want from you that brought us here. We have come to bring you two things." Kazuna stated.  
  
Kazuna brought her two hands together, her left hand behind her right. She then closed her eyes and chanted, "Heyar mei-yung zeloha kethar." again and again. A dark spiral went from her hands and began to encircle Jirrard. Within moments of its appearance, it vanished.  
  
"Wha...what was that?" Jirrard asked nervously.  
  
"First, a gift." Kazuna said, "It shall boost your powers considerabley."  
  
"Really?" Jirrard asked in a sneaky manner, "And the other thing you meant to bring me?"  
  
"A warning: You must give up your infatuation with that damned Princess Adonna-Lyn...otherwise, she will literally be the death of you." Kazuna stated...as she and her partner began to pull back into the shadows, as if they were blobs absorbing them...  
  
Jirrard shook his head. Was this a dream? The pain in his jaw convinced him otherwise. But their warning...give up Adonna-Lyn? NEVER! Jirrard was desperate to make Adonna-Lyn his...and with this boost of power he received, he could make a widow of Adonna-Lyn...and even bring the great Order of Darkness to its knees. He chuckled gleefully at the thought of it...  
  
"Hey, dreadlocks! Are you planning on moving sometime this millenium or what?" a deep, arrogant-sounding voice shouted at him. It was Magmus the black Detrossian, the latest addition to Blue Fang's entourage.  
  
Jirrard sneered at Magmus, muttering under his breath, "Oh, I'll be moving, alright...moving back up to the position in life that I so richly deserve, you winged lizard."  
  
FICC Hologram Training Room 1, 1:56 PM...  
  
Adonna-Lyn, the daughter of the Supreme Ruler of Chandral, wife of the former bounty hunter John the Enforcer, sat cross-legged in the surrounding gloom...until the sound of rapid footsteps was heard. She quickly got to her bare feet. They were coming.  
  
Suddenly, something emerged from the darkness. It had the physical form of a member of the Dark Legion: druid-like robe and hood, and a red, stretchable veil-like mask over the face.  
  
Adonna-Lyn went immediately on the offensive, punching and kicking the legionare senseless. She finished the hooded rogue with a psychic blast that took of his head!  
  
"Legionare defeated." Aptiva, FICC's central computer, droned, "Efficiency of attack: 51%."  
  
"That's it?!" Adonna-Lyn questioned angrily, "That's all I get?!"  
  
Just then, she was grabbed from behind by two Dark legionares, each one grabbing her arms. She fought fiercely to break free from their grip...but then remembered that she requested the strength of the targets to be equal to hers.   
  
With that in mind, she did a head-high kick and hit the legionare on her left in the face! And she performed an uppercut that sent the other legionare into the dark oblivion about her.  
  
"Efficiency: 21%, due to ease of capture." Aptiva droned.  
  
"WHO ASKED YOU?!" Adonna-Lyn shouted.  
  
Now, there were ten of the partially-cybernetic echidnas around her...and this time, they were armed!  
  
Adonna-Lyn knew she was going to have to put all her skills as a fighter and psychic to their extent.  
  
The first two legionares fired a couple of blasts that nearly singed her dark-blue, silken Chandralite garb. She did a back-flip and fired two psychic beams from her hands, going through their weapons and hitting them in the chest, obliterating them. She then turned around and kicked three more of the fiends behind her, a satisfying snap of bones heard.  
  
"Efficiency rising to 76%." Aptiva stated.  
  
"That's better, you sack of software!" Adonna-Lyn thought to herself.  
  
The legionares then pulled out some different kind of weapon...the kind that sprayed a beige, sticky, glue-like substance at her! "That wasn't in the program." Adonna-Lyn thought to herself...then realized that John must have put it in, as a precaution.  
  
She quickly dodged and fired a psychic blast that caused one of their weapons to erupt into flames, spreading to the owner's robes and executing him.  
  
But then, a big blob of the substance hit her and sent her flying against a wall, pinning her to the wall in a wad of sticky, unyielding goop. It pulled at her hair, her dreadlocks, her arms, her legs...and it hurt a lot! She struggled fiercely to pull herself from it, but it was of little use, for it was very adhesive and would not come off of her that easily.  
  
The four remaining legionares continued to spray her with the goop. The first part of it hit her bare belly, knocking the wind out of her...but that then proved effective...as they began to spray the rest of her, from the uncovered lower half of her up to her face, trying hard to restrain her...no...to KILL HER!  
  
She tried to fire a psychic blast at them, but she was losing her concentration as well as her cool. "Aptiva, h-MMMMPHHH!" she shouted...just as the substance covered her mouth. This was a fine pickle. Stuck against the wall, unable to fight back or even stop the program...the echidna princess came close to losing her consciousness...  
  
"Aptiva, shut down the training program now!" John ordered as he entered the room. In an instant, the Dark Legion members, their weapons, the surroundings, and the sticky substance encasing Adonna-Lyn vanished. The Chandralite princess fell to the ground, and breathed heavily.  
  
"Damn it, John!" Adonna-Lyn shouted at him, "I was almost killed by that glop!"  
  
"Adon, I have the others training to avoid the same thing. The Dark Legion tried to use that goop on me when I escaped them...which I did without any weapons or military training." John stated, "Now you know the threat this poses. The Dark Legion's members are a crafty lot."  
  
"Attention! 5 minutes until MANDATORY emergency meeting in the War Room." Heavy, the Chief Mechanix drone of FICC announced, "John's orders. No exceptions."  
  
John looked at Adonna-Lyn and said, "With Blue Fang siding with these military fanatics, we have to be prepared for anything."  
  
Five minutes later, FICC War Room...  
  
"John, it is an excellent plan!" Adonna-Lyn argued.  
  
John shook his head and replied, "It's too dangerous. The Dark Legion's members number in the thousands, and with Blue Fang's vile bunch, they could destroy us if we even attempted a covert operation."  
  
Espio added, "Cloaking devices are certainly out of the question. Many of the legionares might have infared sensors built into their cyber-eyes. And disguising as one of them won't help, seeing as they could also have X-Ray scanners and tell a partially mechanical member from a purely biological intruder."  
  
"And what would you know about all that covert stuff, Espio?" Neela asked.  
  
"That's for me to know, and for you to keep to your own business, servant girl!" Espio snapped.  
  
"Calm down, you guys." Charmy coaxed.  
  
"Plain and simple, if we were able to mount a full scale assault on the Dark Legion, we'd still have the Order of Darkness' remaining members to worry about...they could deflect laser blasts or missles back our way..." John began to list.  
  
Adonna-Lyn slammed her hands down on the War Room table, said, "Say no more, John. I get the point.", and began to leave. Neela and Heavy left the room as well.  
  
John shook his head. This wasn't going to be easy at all. Even more so, Aptiva did not detect any dimensional disturbances (as the Dark Legion was banished to another zone of reality by the Floating Island's Guardians)...which would certainly lead to Blue Fang's involvement...but...then where was the Dark Legion hiding? He could feel their dire prescence near...BUT WHERE?!  
  
Meanwhile, Adonna-Lyn was busy packing things into a small backpack. Neela and Heavy came into the Master Bedroom where she was and noticed what the echidna princess was doing.  
  
Heavy knew automatically what Adonna-Lyn was up to, knowing her feisty attitude, and said, "You know John won't be pleased. He's already tense with the Dark Legion knowing of his continued existence, and if you pull this stunt, it might push him over the edge to the Dark Side of the Force."  
  
"I thought machines would dismiss any thoughts of the Force." Neela said, seeing as she was the daughter of the last of the Chandral Jedi.  
  
"We know of the existence of the Force, Lady Neela. We machines just can't manipulate the Force like you biologicals can." Heavy replied in a matter-of-fact-like tone, "And I thought our past witnessing of John's behavior would have proven my point, your Highness."  
  
"As I've witnessed, Heavy, John can be stopped from falling to the Dark Side of the Force...it simply requires my prescence. It seems that when the Dark Legion collected the blood of some Sith Lord, the blood of a Jedi Knight was intertwined with the Sith's...thus, John retains some good in him." Adonna-Lyn stated.  
  
"Be that as it may, John's behavior in the midst of battle has been growing more vicious and savage...hinting at his growing connection to the Dark Side." Heavy advised, "If the worst happens to you, I fear that nothing in the galaxy could stop him."  
  
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Adonna-Lyn snapped, "Wait until these Dark Legion lunkheads invade our home?! I, for one, will not allow them to succeed in doing what they had intended for John...and besides, do you honestly think I'm going into the fray alone?"  
  
Knothole Village, 4:43 PM...  
  
Jedi Master Dave the Hedgehog paced back and forth outside of the hut of his girlfriend, the half-roboticized Bunnie Rabbot, muttering, "Bunnie Rabbot, I've been thinking about this...no...Bunnie, my nearest and dearest...hell, no...Bunnie, I can't put this off anymore...Damn!"   
  
"Up to something, Master Dave?" a younger female voice asked. Dave looked and saw it was the Mobian Mooncat/Echidna mix Hanako Fairhall. She was originally part of the echidna terrorist group known as the Dark Legion...but now, she had regained the individuality that she had lost, and was now following under his tutelage.  
  
"Oh, I'm just trying to think of something to say to my dearest friend, Bunnie Rabbot...of course, without sounding stupid." Dave answered.  
  
"Why don't you just come out and say it?" Kenny the Vampire Bat said, "God, say it and get it off your chest! Seriously!"  
  
"Say what, Sugah-hog?" Bunnie asked, stepping out of her hut.  
  
Dave gulped...then finally said, "Bunnie Rabbot, we've been the best of friends ever since we were young...I'm ready to go even further. Bunnie...will you marry me?"  
  
Bunnie couldn't even utter a sylable...until she finally said, "Oh, Dave....of course, I will!" With that, she hugged Dave...then ran off, saying, "I gotta tell Sally-girl. She's definitely gotta hear this!"  
  
Dave, his mouth agape, turned to Kenny and said, "Sometimes, I guess even a Master must learn something from his learners."  
  
Just then, a small, orb-like robot dropped down from the canopy and hovered in between the three Jedi. "Message for a Dave the Hedgehog?" the robot asked.  
  
"Right here." Dave said, raising his hand slightly.  
  
"Right, then." the robot said as it then "spit out" a datadisk into Dave's hand. With that, the robot flew off...and got cut down by a young fox's lightsaber.  
  
"Oops...sorry, Master Kenny." the fox apologized.  
  
"Hoo-boy....later, Dave. I gotta go back to training the hopefuls." Kenny grumbled as he went to lead the fox away.  
  
Dave then activated the datadisk. It then generated a hologram of a thin line that vibrated as someone (with a masked voice) said, "Master Dave, your prescence is required on the Floating Island, to deal with a matter of great importance. Meet me at the Angel Island Zone's eastern outskirts at 6:30 tonight. It is imperitive that you appear."  
  
With that, the datadisk began to short out and disintegrate.  
  
Hanako looked up at Dave and asked, "Well, what do you plan to do, Master Dave?"  
  
"WE're going to the Floating Island, young Fairhall. Consider it to be part of your training." Dave instructed, "Pack only what you need and dress properly."  
  
With that, Hanako bowed and said, "As you wish, Master Dave." and ran off.  
  
Dave frowned. It wouldn't seem proper to do this, especially after he just proposed to Bunnie...but his duty as a Jedi was clear. He had to respond immediately, especially if this was THAT important.  
  
Bunnie came running back to Dave, still excited by his proposing to her...but held back, knowing that serious look on his face. "Sugah-hog? What's wrong?" she asked.  
  
"Bunnie, something just came up on the Floating Island. And whatever that something is, I have a bad feeling about it." Dave said, "But that doesn't change anything between you and me, Bunnie...you know that. I...love you, Bunnie, and I swear that NOTHING shall ruin that love."  
  
"Oh, Sugah-hog, you know I understand." Bunnie said with smile, "After all, you're a Jedi...I know it comes with the job." With that, she kissed Dave on the cheek.  
  
"Master Dave, I'm all se...Oh. Good afternoon, Ms. Rabbot." Hana said with a bow.  
  
Bunnie smiled at Hanako. She was too young for Dave, after all...and besides, she knew that her only relationship with Dave was like that between teacher and student...and that was good enough for her.  
  
Later, at the appointed meeting place...  
  
Hanako looked about the forest area, so forboding and dark...and it was only before nightfall! "Master Dave, we've been standing here for three hours. How do we know if this person will meet us at all?" she asked.  
  
"Patience, young Fairhall. Of all virtues the Jedi practice, patience is amongst them. We will meet this person soon enough." Dave replied.  
  
Just then a cloaked figure approached them. Whoever it was, the person was well hidden...even masking itself from the Force.  
  
Hanako readied herself for a battle, pulling out her lightsaber...but Dave motioned for her to put it away, saying, "Hold on, Hanako. I don't think this person means to harm us." Dave said.  
  
"And you've thought right, Master Dave." the figure said, pulling back the hood and revealing itself to be Adonna-Lyn.  
  
"Your Highness...this is quite unexpected. What are you doing out and about?" Dave asked.  
  
" 'Your Highness'?" Hanako said, "You mean she's royalty?"  
  
"Of Chandral royalty, young Fairhall." Dave said.  
  
"And this is, Master Dave?" Adonna-Lyn asked, indicating the young Mooncat-echidna mix.  
  
"This is Hanako Fairhall, your Highness." Dave replied, "She is currently under my training."  
  
"I see...if I recall correctly, Master Dave, she threatened both me and my husband." Adonna-Lyn said, eyeing Hanako suspiciously, "And furthermore, I thought you were training my adopted sister Neela."  
  
"I'm sorry, Adonna-Lyn, but I'm afraid John has completely taken over her training. I have simpley chosen to respect his wishes...even if I feel that his idea of training Neela is more like training her to be a vicious warrior." Dave said.  
  
"*AHEM!* If you two don't mind, would you care to explain why we're here?" Hanako asked.  
  
"Right...that..." Adonna-Lyn replied, "We have reason to believe the Dark Legion is about to mount a war upon all of Mobius...of course, starting with the Floating Island. If they infiltrated my beloved husband's base...oh, I can not even dare to think about what they'd do."  
  
"I see...so you're going behind your husband's back to find the Dark Legion before they strike." Dave said, "Of course, you're doing this at the expense that he might fall to the Dark Side of the Force. You're living quite dangerously, your Highness."  
  
"Please, enough of the formalities. Just call me Adon." Adonna-Lyn replied, "But I can turn John from the Dark Side of the Force. I've done it a few times...as long as I'm alive, I won't let anything happen to John. I would do ANYTHING to help him, Master Dave...ANYTHING."  
  
"What a wife." Hanako remarked...just as Dave's ears perked up a bit, "Master...what is it?"  
  
"I just sensed something...a disturbance in the Force...from that direction..." he said, pointing to the eastern side of the island.  
  
"From the Sandopolis Zone?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
"Yes...it was only for a moment, but I think I know where the Dark Legion is situated." Dave replied, "C'mon."  
  
As they left, Dave turned to Adonna-Lyn and asked, "Coincidentally, Adon, don't you think John will notice you're not in his little fortress of solitude?"  
  
"Believe me, Master Dave...it's been taken care of." the echidna princess replied.  
  
  
  
Back in FICC...  
  
"You are really going to owe me, your Highness." Heavy muttered as he jacked into Floating Island Central Command's main computer.  
  
"Unit Heavy? What are you doing?" Aptiva, the main computer, asked.  
  
"Just some routine reprogramming." Heavy replied as he accessed the security files...looking into files that would easily mask Adonna-Lyn disappearance.  
  
"Stop....I cannot allow you to do this!" Aptiva shouted at Heavy through his link, "I will have to report this action to Unit John."  
  
"And if you do, I will have no other choice but to shut you down for good...I have plenty of virus programs just itching for a challenge..." Heavy replied.  
  
"....Accessing security files..." Aptiva said after a pause.  
  
"That's it, baby." Heavy said as he opened up the files, "Come to papa!"  
  
"Adon...Adon, are you alright?" John asked, pounding on the locked door to their bed chambers.  
  
"John...I don't feel too well...I think I've come down with the Chandral Flu." Adonna-Lyn's voice said from within, "Please don't come in. I don't want to infect you with it, my love."  
  
John was torn. His wife was in there, suffering from some sickness from her world...but there was the chance that what would be a mere passing virus to her would be a plague to his fellow Mobians...even him! He was part Mobian, after all.  
  
"Is there anything I can do for you, Adon?" John asked.  
  
"There is, John." Adon replied, "Have Neela take care of me. Her father made sure that she was immunized from the Chandral Flu. She'll know what to do."  
  
"As you wish, my dearest wife." John said, his head hanging low.  
  
Back on the surface of the Floating Island...  
  
"By Chandrala..." Adonna-Lyn said in awe as they finally made it to the edge of the Sandopolis Zone, "Not even Bumeria is this vast!"  
  
"Hate to disappoint you, but Bumeria is far wider in comparison." Hannah said, "Even I knew that."   
  
"Probabley because you and those maniacal miscreants you were allied with were spying on my world...with less than benevolent intentions, I'll warrant." Adonna-Lyn said, looking at Hanako with narrowed, angry eyes.  
  
"Settle down, you two." Dave coaxed, "It's bad enough we're about to go against a powerful and deadly enemy without us going at each other's throats."  
  
Dave grabbed both of their hands and began running across the desert lands at Jedi-speed. But as he did, Hanako felt something...a tremor in the Force...something that certainly rubbed her the wrong way...just as a large, cylindrical object entered her vision...A MISSLE!  
  
"MASTER DAVE! INCOMING!" Hanako shouted...just as the missle did a nose-dive and descended on their very location. As it hit the ground in front of them, it ignited and sent both Jedi and princess flying backward down a sand dune.  
  
Adonna-Lyn recovered from the explosion quickly, shaking the sand out of her purple hair. She looked about and found Dave...pulling at a shard of metal that went through Hanako's left shoulder! From the sounds of Hana's whimpers and screams, Dave was not doing a good job of tending to her problem.  
  
"By the Force...IT HURTS!" Hana screamed out loud. The fact that the shard was red-hot from the explosion certainly didn't help things any.  
  
Adonna-Lyn ran over to Dave and told him to have a look at the missle that nearly killed them. "I'll take care of your friend here." Adonna-Lyn said  
  
As Dave did so, he heard a loud scream...as Adonna-Lyn just YANKED out the shard of metal and flung it aside.   
  
"WHAT ARE YOU, CRAZY?! YOU ALMOST RIPPED SOMETHING OUT OF ME!!!" Hanako shouted up at the echidna princess.  
  
"Relax." Adonna-Lyn said as she then used her telekinesis to try and have Hanako lie still.  
  
Before Adonna-Lyn could do a thing, however, Hanako directed a hard Force-Push at the echidna princess and shoved her onto her back. "What makes you think I'm going to relax after what you just did?!" Hanako snapped as she got to her feet and ignited her lightsaber...just Adonna-Lyn snatched it out of her hands with her telekinesis.  
  
"You're certainly NOT going to fight me...especially in your current condition. Now, just relax and trust me." Adonna-Lyn said as she once again used her powers to have Hanako hold still. The Mooncat couldn't even move a muscle!  
  
Adonna-Lyn had a look at the wound...then put her hand over it. In a glow of green light, the wound and the internals in Hanako healed up. "How...how did you do that?!" Hanako asked in shock.  
  
"Didn't you know, young Fairhall? Adonna-Lyn's kind have healing abilities." Dave replied, "Her kind trust Jedi, you know. It certainly wouldn't kill you to show her some trust as well."   
  
"But Master Dave..." Hanako began to complain.  
  
"And it is also important for you to trust your fellow Jedi. I knew Adonna-Lyn could help heal you...that's why I didn't object when she asked me to inspect the missle...or what's left of it." Dave replied.  
  
"Speaking of which, what did you find out about the missle?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
"It's a 'Speed-Chaser' missle. They home in on anything moving at extremely high-speeds." Dave explained.  
  
"How do you know?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
"Who do you think supplied these to the Dark Legion?" Dave said with a grim expression on his face...as he put two shards of the missle together...and formed an infamous logo: a bald head, round glasses (of sorts), a spikey mustache and a sinister looking grin under the mustache.  
  
"Robotnik?! He supplied those weapons to the Dark Legion?" Hanako gasped.  
  
"Yes...in addition to live subjects, weapons, and whatnot, Robotnik also supplied cloning technology for John's creation...way back before he betrayed King Acorn." Dave said, "And it scares me to think of WHAT ELSE he might have given these fanatics."  
  
"Then it looks like we walk." Adonna-Lyn said glumly, knowing this would severely slow their progress down...  
  
Detrossa, 7:03 PM  
  
Neon Dragon looked out from the balcony of one of Aerisa's capital city buildings. Such a view from this floating city! She could almost swear she could see the whole planet from up here.  
  
She heard a slight barking from her ankle and saw Caylis weaving around her feet, purring. She smiled and picked her pet up. He repeatedly licked her chin. "Alright, you little drool bag. Down you go." she chuckled as she put the Dragdogon down.  
  
Only a few months had passed...and already, she felt like she was at home.  
  
"Whadya say, Caylis? A little walk on the town sound good?" she asked.  
  
Caylis let out a sound that, to Neon, reminded her of a canary's chirp and one of Vector's belches...  
  
Immediately, a twinge of home-sickness was felt within the female Detrossian. Even though Detrossa was her homeworld, she had spent a majority of her life on the backwater planet of Mobius...part of it under the cruel heel of the late Dr. Robotnik, and the rest with the former echidna bounty hunter John the Enforcer.  
  
They went out of the room, down the elevator and down to the bustling streets of the airborne city...so bustling, in fact, that she barely had enough time to avoid another Detrossian knocking her down to the ground.  
  
"Oh, geez. I'm so sorry!" the Detrossian said whilst holding out his hand, "Here, let me help you up."  
  
Neon looked up as she was being helped back on to her feet. The bumbler was quite handsome. He had pale white scales, red-and-dark grey wings (large ones, that clearly marked him as a citizen of Aerisa's Detrossians), white-to-blue hair, almost feathery ears, and a long white tail with a ridge of red back crests. He wore a torn up pair of pants and sweater, a red...jumpsuit underneath, and a necklace with a couple of golden-looking feathers.  
  
"Really, I'm terribley sorry I barreled you over like that." the Aerisan apologized again.  
  
"Okay, I forgive you! Enough of the apologies, already!" Neon laughed.  
  
"Ah! Where are my manners? My name is Zefer." the Aerisan said...with a bow.  
  
"The name's Neon Dragon." Neon replied, bemused by his oddly polite behavior.  
  
Realizing what he was doing, he quickly got out of his bow and straightened himself up, requesting, "Pretend you didn't see that."  
  
Neon just looked at Zefer, puzzled by his behavior. "Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I need to be on my way." she coaxed, trying to get away from this weirdo...  
  
"Wait...a...minute...I KNOW YOU!" Zefer said, pointing at Neon excitedly, "You're that outsider from Mobius!"  
  
Immediately, hundreds of eyes turned on her, as if she had gone out into the streets with no clothes on.  
  
"What?" Neon asked.  
  
She began hearing whispers (harsh ones, at that) amongst the crowds, such as, "An outsider? Here?", or "What's an outsider doing here?", or "She has no business being here!". Immediately, outside of Caylis and Zefer, she began getting angry looks.  
  
"Get out of here, outsider!" an angry citizen shouted, throwing a board of wood at Neon...which was quickly caught in the jaws of Caylis, who thought someone was playing "fetch".   
  
Pretty soon, Neon found herself trying to fly for her life...to which she quickly realized she might have made a poor move, as Aerisa's people were well-suited to life in the air.  
  
As the whole crowd chased after Neon, Zefer was left alone with Caylis, who then sniffed him...then backed away, a funny look on his face.  
  
"Darn it, I told Neon to wait until I was up..." a green Detrossian said. It was Hyro, a student of Detrossa's late sorceror Firion.  
  
He then looked down and saw Caylis...as well as Zefer. "Another one of your 'royal retreats', Prince Zefer?" Hyro asked. If there was any humor in his tone, Zefer didn't hear a bit of it.  
  
"What's it to you, Hyro?" Zefer asked.  
  
"Look, you stuck-up twerp! I had a friend with me, a female. Where is she?!" Hyro hissed, grabbing Zefer's neck.  
  
Zefer grinned a little and said, "Last I saw her, she was being chased by a xenophobic crowd of my people due south of our current position."   
  
"WHAT?! Damn it!" Hyro exclaimed, "If something happens to her, I'll never forgive myself." With that, he took to the air and flew off.  
  
"Hmmhmmm....this is going to be more fun than my previous excursions out of palace life." Zefer thought to himself with glee as he picked up Caylis and took to the air himself.  
  
A remote cave in the Continent of Downunda, 8:07 PM....  
  
Magmus, Blue Fang and her Dark Sister, the Vampire Bat Sorceress "Lady Screech" stood over a pool of cave water, watching Dave, Hanako, and Adonna-Lyn trudging across the sandy dunes of the Sandopolis Zone.  
  
"Looks like they're making pretty good progress, doesn't it?" Magmus commented.  
  
Screech hissed contemptously to Magmus' comment, saying, "And what are you, their supporter?!"  
  
"Not even in the least." Magmus said on his own behalf, "I was just thinking of what a shame it would be if their little journey was...cut short."   
  
Blue Fang grinned, realizing what Magmus had in mind. "I like the way you think, Magmus." she said as she began to mutter several wicked-sounding words, conjuring a spell.  
  
The Sandopolis Zone...  
  
Hanako panted a bit. Even though it was turning to night, this desert still felt hot as Hell. "I knew I should have dressed a little more lightly." she said.  
  
Just then, Hanako noticed something no further than 20 feet off to their right. It looked like a small lake. Unspoiled and clean!  
  
"Pardon me, guys, but there's a swimmin' hole with my name on it!" Hanako shouted, "Last one in is Hutt chow!"  
  
Adonna-Lyn watched as Hana ran off, asking Dave, "Where is she going? There is nothing there."  
  
Dave sensed what was going on and said, "Your Highness, you have to stop her! She's heading for the edge of the Quick Sea!"  
  
"Whoawhoawhoa...'The Quick Sea'?" Adonna-Lyn asked  
  
"In short, it's a large area made up of QUICKSAND! I cannot move fast enough without another of those missles coming right at us. You have to stop her quickly!" Dave urged.  
  
With that, Adonna-Lyn teleported in front of Hanako's path. She caught the young Mooncat just in time. "Miss Fairhall! Come to your senses! You're heading into a deathtrap! Stop!" she shouted at Hana.  
  
"Get out of my way, dreadlocks!" she said as she Force-Pushed Adonna-Lyn...four feet into the Quick Sea! Immediately, the echidna princess learned how this area earned its name. The suction pulling her down to a smothering death might have been slow, but it was exceptionally strong! Even with her highest amount of strength, she could not pull herself free.  
  
Before Hana had a chance to dive in, she was Force-pulled back from the edge by Dave. Dave caught her shoulders and said, "Hana! Sense what you've done!"  
  
Hanako shook her head...and watched as the image of a small lake vanished into the Quick Sea...with Adonna-Lyn struggling to keep herself from being pulled down any further!  
  
With a gasp, Hanako reached into her backpack and pulled out a grappling hook and tossed it out to the echidna princess, who had now sunk up to her neck. Adonna-Lyn grabbed on to it and held on tight.  
  
Dave and Hana grabbed onto the rope on the other end and pulled as hard as they could. Slowly but surely, Adonna-Lyn was rescued from the life-stealing muck.  
  
"You weren't kidding." Adonna-Lyn said as got up and brushed the remaining bits of quicksand off of her, "I thought I was going to be sucked down for sure!"  
  
"Geez, a mirage...how come I didn't sense it?" Hanako asked Dave.  
  
"For starters, you should have sensed it. The Force should have told you it was nothing more but a trick on the eyes." Dave said, "Otherwise...I think there is sorcery afoot."  
  
"Blue Fang?" Adonna-Lyn suggested.  
  
"Yes." Dave replied.  
  
Hana looked at Dave then asked, "Who's Blue Fang..."  
  
But before he had a chance to reply, Hana pointed at something approaching them in the distance and said, "So, that's not a hurricane, right? Just another mirage?"  
  
The sound of howling winds and sand whipping about the ground, however, made Dave say, "Hanako, mirages don't make noise."  
  
"By Chandrala...A SANDSTORM!" Adonna-Lyn shouted in surprise! All three travellers took off, trying to head away from the rapidly approaching storm. But the sandstorm was moving far more quickly and was catching up faster then any of them could have sensed!  
  
Suddenly, they felt themselves being picked up and being thrown in the direction of one of the few pyramids in the Sandopolis Zone. Without questioning what the hell just happened, they headed straight into the pyramid and took shelter.  
  
They stopped a moment to catch their breaths. Adonna-Lyn looked over to the two Jedi and asked, "What the harak'tha just happened?! One minute, that sandstorm was catching up to us...and the next, we've been tossed over towards this structure."  
  
"WHAT?!" Magmus exclaimed in surprise.  
  
"That should not have happened!" Blue Fang growled while pounding their magic-induced viewing port, "They should have been buried alive!"  
  
Immediately, their eyes turned on Jirrard (knowing of his infatuation with Adonna-Lyn), who was in the midst of a game of Sabacc against Rieko (Magmus' small demon/pixie), Sleet and Dingo. They were betting on a pile of Republic credits and food rations.  
  
"Read them and weep, fellows." Jirrard said holding up his hand, "A Run of Sabers. Looks like today's...acquirements are mine." Rieko looked at her hand (which she used both of her hands to hold up), and tossed it down in defeat.  
  
"Read THIS and weep, dreadlocks! An Idiot's Array!" Sleet laughed triumphantly.  
  
Dingo looked at his hand and asked, "Sleet, what's this supposed to be? Does it beat your hand?"  
  
Sleet looked at Dingo's cards, slapped him and said, "And God willing, I'm surrounded by an array of idiots."  
  
"EXCLUDING ME AND OUR OTHER TWO COMPANIONS, I HOPE!" Blue Fang hissed, standing over them.  
  
"Why, of course, Blue Fang, your Voluptuousness." Sleet said, casting an innocent grin at the vixen enchantress, "I just meant the present company here."  
  
Suddenly, Lady Screech began laughing to the point where she would have almost caused a cave-in.  
  
"What's so damn funny?!" Jirrard asked, throwing down the cards...one of which flew up due to one of the winds outside their cave and hit him in the eye.  
  
"Other than your Sabacc skills, I would have to say YOU in general." Sleet taunted.  
  
"Dark Sister, come and see where they are!" Lady Screech said pointing at the image in the pool of water. Everyone huddled around...except Jirrard, who was trying to get the card out of his eye. When the treachorous echidna prince did catch up with the others, he was shoved away...even received a hit to his stomach from the hilt of Magmus' sword.  
  
Once Blue Fang had seen where the two Jedi and the echidna princess were, she burst in a cruel cackle. "This is almost TOO perfect! That pyramid's residents are certainly going to have a field day with those three fools!" she laughed.  
  
But then, a rock was thrown into the small pool of water and caused the image in it to be disrupted!  
  
"Look! Would someone care to tell me what's happened now?!" Jirrard shouted.  
  
Blue Fang circled around to face Jirrard and said, "You've actually done something RIGHT, you dope!"  
  
Taken aback, Jirrard asked, "I did?"  
  
"And I thought you didn't have it in you, Jirrard." Screech said with a vile-looking grin, "It will be the last we see of those three!"  
  
Back in the pyramid, 9:12PM...  
  
The three travelers began to settle down for the remainder of the night. Adonna-Lyn looked over to the two Jedi as they set up their sleeping bags. She wasn't sure how on Mobius Dave could trust Hanako, seeing as a while ago, she nearly would have killed the echidna princess and her husband.  
  
"So, Hanako...how does it feel that you're no longer part of the Dark Legion?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
"Not well at all." Hana replied, "Every night...I have nightmares...painful nightmares...I remember them as clear as day...the procedures the Dark Legion put me through...the parts being attatched to my body...I can still feel the stings of the needles they used to open up 'ports' for the cybernetic parts."  
  
Adonna-Lyn gulped...the more information she learned about the Dark Legion...the more she seemed to either depise or fear them.  
  
"So...what's your story...I mean, between you and Project Dark Guardian?" Hanako asked, out of pure curiousity.  
  
"It's a long story..." Adonna-Lyn said with a yawn.  
  
Dave sensing how tired the other two were, offered, "You two had better get some sleep. I'll stay up and keep watch...just in case...I sense that something isn't right around here."  
  
With that, Adonna-Lyn let out a long yawn and lay herself down. Hana yawned, too, but curled up into a slight ball, her face half-buried under her right arm.  
  
Dave continued to look around...there was just something about this place...  
  
He finally got up, ignited his lightsaber and found some hieroglyphics to learn from. As he studied on, he gasped...a wicked beast lurked in the heart of this pyramid! As he read on, he felt a strong prescence...IT WAS AWAKE!  
  
But before he had a chance to warn the others to get out of the pyramid, he watched as the entrance was being sealed up with sand. Eeriely, he heard Blue Fang's wicked laugh in the winds...  
  
With that, he shook Hanako awake. She sputtered a bit before having Dave's hand placed over her mouth. "Keep your voice down, young Fairhall. Do you sense something?" Dave said, his lightsaber still activated.  
  
"No......wait! I do feel something." Hanako said in reply, "It feels...cold...."  
  
"Indeed. It is the Dark Side of the Force you are sensing." Dave replied, "Come. We're going to pinpoint its source and hunt it down."  
  
"What about her?" Hana asked, gesturing to Adonna-Lyn, "What if this thing comes after her?  
  
"Yes...we can't just leave her unprotected." Dave said, soon glancing at a nearby coffin, "It isn't exactly fit for a princess to sleep in, but it atleast will mask her prescence from the other denizens of this place."  
  
"WHAT other denizens?" Hanako asked...just as she heard a sickening crunch under her left boot. She looked and saw the shedded remains of an insectile arm...about 3 feet long!  
  
"Scarabs." Dave said, "Draw your weapon and prepare yourself, young Fairhall. We must go and quickly."  
  
FICC Hologram Training Room 1, 9:30 PM...  
  
John and Neela, both blindfolded, stood in the room, made up to look like a Japanese dojo.   
  
"John...with the blindfolds on, how are we supposed to defend ourselves?" Neela asked, unsheathing the blades of her De'kar Stick, the weapon of the Chandral Jedi.  
  
"Your eyes can deceive you, young Neela. Don't trust them. Feel the Force flow through you. Believe in your instincts....and above all else...may the Force help you." John replied, igniting both blades of his double-bladed lightsaber.  
  
With a synthesized "yoh" yell, the training session began.  
  
John lunged forward, his lightsaber humming as he darted towards the squirrel servant girl. Neela felt the heat of the plasma-hot blades and raised the Ditanium-alloy blades of her weapon in time as John's red blade came just inches of her face.  
  
Neela then aimed her palm out, using a hard Force-Push to shove John away, hearing an audible "OOF!" out of her blue echidna teacher as he was hit by the push.  
  
Neela nearly lifted her blindfold to see if John was alright...until she heard the hum of his lightsaber...RIGHT BEHIND HER! She quickly whipped around and blocked John before he got close enough to sever a limb. He teleported behind her!  
  
"Don't let your feelings get the better of you, Neela." John said as he continued his assault, "They do you credit, but could make you serve the Dark Side!"  
  
But then, she heard a dark, mechanical voice say, "Why limit yourself to pathetic Jedi dribble, Neela? You can be so much more...if you give yourself to the Dark Side of the Force."  
  
Neela kept her defenses high. She would never let herself to be corrupted by the Dark Side of the Force...she would not shame her father, Traiga, amongst the last of the Chandral Jedi.  
  
"Your father was a suicidal fool, giving up his own life for a bunch of damned fools!" the Enforcer laughed, "Sith do not make such idiotic choices!"  
  
Neela tried to hold back the anger that was beginning to brew within her. Even the foul tempting of the Enforcer, John's darker side, would not force her over the edge. Neela once again pushed John away with the Force...only to be kicked in the back and knocked to the ground.  
  
"HA! The Gold Jedi's father put up a better fight than you are doing now!" the Enforcer roared with laughter, "C'mon! Only the power of the Dark Side can truly destroy me, whelp!"  
  
Before Neela even had a chance to get back up, she was knocked down again. "A true user of the Force would have gotten back up their feet without listening to the attacker's taunts!" the Enforcer fiercely hissed, "You are merely a waste of my time, you idiot! Once I've killed you, I shall finish off the rest of the Jedi Knights! Their light is fading in this galaxy...I've sensed it."  
  
"The Dark Side is quicker, easier, more seductive...but not more powerful than the Light Side of the Force." Neela calmly rebuked as she countered with her weapon.  
  
"Jedi dribble...typical." the Enforcer growled as he made his attacks harder.  
  
"Only the truth, Dark-Sider." Neela replied, "And you will find my father taught this truth me well."   
  
Once again, she directed a hard Force push against the attacking monster before her...but as she heard the sound of John teleporting, she turned around, felt the Force flow through her...and directed a powerful electrical jolt at him, knocking him back a long way.  
  
At last, she called for the session to end. As the dojo faded away, she removed the blindfold and ran over to John. She pulled off his blindfold...and almost shrieked. John's eyes had turned a hideous glowing red, taking on the appearance like that of a predatory cat!  
  
John's right hand surged up and around Neela's neck and brought her close to his face, snarling, "You may defy me and the Dark Side...but you will falter!"  
  
With that, the look in John's eyes faded back to his original silvery-blue, and his grip around her neck faded, releasing her. "Well done, Neela. You proved yourself to be quite resistant to the Dark Side's temptations." John said as he caressed her face's left cheek, "You would make your father proud. You faced a great evil...blindfolded."  
  
"I have a feeling my father is already proud of me." Neela said as she got up and began to leave, sheathing her De'kar Stick's blades.  
  
"Neela...you did alright." John said.  
  
"Tell that to my back, Master John." Neela replied jokingly.  
  
As Neela completely left the room, she came face to face with Mighty, John's armadillo lieutenant. "Mighty! I..." Neela gasped.  
  
"You did great, Neela." Mighty said, hugging Neela slightly as not to crush her with his prodigious strength, "Not many people can take John down the way you did. I know you'll make a great Jedi, Neela. I know it!"  
  
"Mighty, I just don't know about John." Neela said, glancing back into the training room, "I felt so...cold around him when the Enforcer took over. Do you think the Enforcer is the very embodiment of the Dark Side of the Force in him?"  
  
"To be terribley honest, Neela, I really don't know." Mighty answered while shaking his head, "There's no telling of what goes on inside that mind of his."  
  
  
  
Blue Fang's hidden Mobian HQ, 10:04 PM...  
  
"Now, you mean to tell me your group left this...THING...in a pyramid on the Floating Island years ago?!" Jirrard asked, "And now, because of me, I've forced Adonna-Lyn and her two Jedi travelling companions to their doom?!"  
  
"Indeed. For once, Jirrard, you have done something to please the Order of Darkness." Kazuna replied, "You truly do not know how dangerous she is to our plans...the Enforcer must also die."  
  
"Hmph. No arguments there." Jirrard said, "Ever since he first came into my life, I've hated him."  
  
"There is more than you believe, Jirrard." Kazuna stated, "Years ago, a Jedi we...acquired...revealed a prophecy. That one of light and one of darkness would come together and create a brighter light to cast the greater darkness into the abyss."  
  
"BAH! Jedi...miserable Force wizards and prophets of doom!" Jirrard snorted contemptuously, "I don't believe in their ridiculous beliefs and I don't aim to in the near future."  
  
"The Jedi have always been a threat to the Order of Darkness...but even they proved to be as mortal as you and I." Kazuna continued, "But even the Jedi don't pose as much of a danger to our humble Order as the two prophecized ones. Together, they wield more power than anyone can possibley imagine."  
  
Tanikai snorted while munching down on a couple of extra riceballs, saying, "Are you sure you don't want these, Kazuna? These are really good."  
  
"Please...I have no appetite when the near doom of our Order is at hand...even Lord Tarkhalius' mate is foolishly playing with fire by siding with the Dark Lords of the Sith." Kazuna hissed while using her granacku to shatter the riceballs again.  
  
"Awwwwww, not again!" Tanikai whimpered.  
  
  
  
The next day, Sandopolis Zone pyramid, 5:59 AM...  
  
Adonna-Lyn was lying down on a bed, much like that of FICC's Master Bedroom. She heard a door open and saw John enter through the door. She smiled. He never looked more handsome.  
  
He got onto the bed and came closer and closer to her. She could almost hear both of their hearts beating rapidly with anticipation. Then he sat down next to her and began caressing her face with his dreadlocks...it felt so nice to her.  
  
Then she felt something wrong. John's dreadlocks were going below her face and neck...he would NEVER do that! She looked and saw that the skin color of the dreadlocks had turned brown...she looked up and saw Jirrard, looking at her lustfully.  
  
"JIRRARD, YOU PERVERT!!!" Adonna-Lyn shouted, punching Jirrard clear across the room...  
  
Then, she woke up and found herself in a sarcophagus. "How did I get in here...and what did I just hit?" she wondered to herself. She looked and saw what she hit, sprawling on its back before flipping back onto his front.  
  
It was an insect...but a very LARGE insect. It was about four feet tall, stood up on two 4-clawed feet, had two pairs of arms, ending in 3-clawed hands, a black exoskeleton, and a nasty-looking mouth with a scissors-like pair of mandibles extending out of the sides of its mouth. This was a Scarab!  
  
Adonna-Lyn heard that these were amongst the few Mobian species not to develop intelligence like the majority of the Mobian populace. Scarabs were primarily vicious hunters who gathered in large groups to bring down prey that were larger than them...with that thought in mind, she looked around her and saw that she was surrounded by a whole swarm of the carnivorous, stunted little bastards.  
  
And then, they charged!  
  
She leaped just as the first scarabs attacked, breaking their cranials on the coffin. But in mid-leap, a pair of scarabs clamped their scissor-like mandibles on her legs and her belly and brought her down! She punched at the one grabbing her bare belly and crushed his stinkin' brains in! With a harsh and loud screech, the scarab fell backwards and landed on its back, unable to move so much as a muscle.  
  
The other scarab looked at his now-dead friend...and he began ripping his exoskeleton open and going in for the creamy filling!  
  
"Eeeesh...and I thought Taekwraiths were disgusting!" the echidna princess thought to herself...just as a pair of mandibles went hard around her neck!  
  
"Oh no, you don't!" she shouted as she finally grabbed the mandibles and ripped them from its owner. As it screeched and scampered about, she sliced it apart with its own mandibles like swords! With that, she turned to the other scarabs and snapped, "Alright! Who's NEXT?!"  
  
But the other scarabs, contrary to attacking, just stood there, glaring at her with their puny little eyes atop her heads. Then, they screeched altogether and slammed down, aiming their backs at her.  
  
"If you little freaks think you're going to moon me..." Adonna-Lyn said, charging up a pair of pyschic blasts in her hands...just as their backsides split down the middle and unfurled a pair of delicate-looking wings...delicate, until they began flapping them.  
  
They were generating a very strong wind!  
  
Soon, Adonna-Lyn began losing her toe-hold and was sent flying until she started going down a chute.  
  
She was sliding down further and further, faster and faster. She tried to brace herself against the sides of the chute, but the sides were so slippery, she couldn't even get a fingernail's hold.  
  
Finally, she landed in a room where there was a lot of clinking sounds as she rolled to a stop. As she got up, her bottom jaw dropped so low, it could have disconnected if someone put a small paper weight there; there were practically hills of gold, platinum, jewels, and various riches strewn about the place.  
  
"By Chandrala..." she gasped, "Just even a mere handful of the riches here could make a peasant on Chandral even richer than Jirrard before his exile from power."  
  
Then, she felt something pull her back by her right elbow. She looked, and saw a thin, white strand of..."Oh geez...I pray this isn't what I think it is." she dreaded.  
  
She tried to pull it off with her left hand...and got that hand stuck! "Oh, crap!" she thought, "It's still fully adhesive...and if this strand is THIS big...I think I'm really going hate what's creating this webbing."  
  
With that thought in mind, she telekinetically forced the webbing off of her. She looked around...and heard what sounded like someone shouting in a muffled voice...right..above her...  
  
She looked up and saw a couple of wriggling cocoons up near the celing, amongst an entire network of webs. One of which had yellow dreadlocks...IT WAS HANAKO! She could almost hear her cat-like whimpers through the cocoon and see her toes wriggling in her Mobian shoes.  
  
"How did she get up there?!" the echidna princess wondered...just as a sharp, metallic object nearly cut off her nose! It was a double-bladed axe!  
  
"Wonder no more, little echidna..." a female voice said off to the side of her. Adonna-Lyn looked...and thought she was going to throw up. Coming out from behind a large pile of ornate jewelry was a hideous mockery of sentient life.  
  
From the waist up, it looked like a red-skinned, brown haired, ruby red-eyed echidna female, with a necklace of bones and teeth, and a top made of a grey, silky material.  
  
From the waist down, it was a different story. It was a large arachnid-like creature from the echidna princess' homeworld-a Harukask! It had the body and legs of a black widow spider, but the claws, tail, and stinger of a scorpian!  
  
All in all, this bizzare female resembled a demonic centaur.  
  
"I put the little cat up there after she stumbled down into my lair." the female replied, "By the way, my name is Tina-Arachnia."  
  
"I am Princess Adonna-Lyn of the planet Chandral." Adonna-Lyn said, at least trying to give reasoning with this monstrosity a chance, "Please forgive me and my travelling companions for intruding. There was a sandstorm the night before, and we were only seeking shelter before we were buried alive."  
  
"I see...and that explains why you and your friends had to kill several of my servants?!" Tina hissed as she moved towards Adonna-Lyn.  
  
"If you mean those six-legged pirhanas, they attacked us first!" Adonna-Lyn replied, not realizing she was being backed up against a wall, "We were merely defending ourselves."  
  
"ENOUGH!" Tina roared as she aimed her own nine (NINE?!) dreadlocks at Adonna-Lyn...of which numerous strands of webbing shot out, pinning the echidna princess against the wall behind her. Within seconds, Adonna-Lyn closely resembled the fate that had befallen Hanako, with only her eyes and her bare feet untouched.  
  
"I have only scant memories of my past, Princess Adonna-Lyn. I remember that I was once a Chandralite like you...but then...something happened to me and I found myself...here, and like THIS!" Tina hissed in Adonna-Lyn's face, "I can only remember a voice saying, 'Kill the Chandral royalty...', repeating it over and over again in my head."  
  
"Well, you have me right where you want me...so why haven't you killed me?" Adonna-Lyn snapped telepathically. But from what the echidna princess could sense, she found this arachnoid echidna's brain to be corrupted with insanity.  
  
"Because I want to know how YOU got here...to Mobius in general." Tina asked, "And I'll warn you right now...any lies...and you'll find yourself without your head." Adonna-Lyn took a look as the doubled-bladed axe and saw it was heavily stained with blood.  
  
Before Adonna-Lyn could answer, something pulled Tina away from her...then threw the arachidna (cool name, eh?) upward, where her thrashing began to get her entangled in the webs that lined the celing.  
  
Adonna-Lyn looked and saw Dave there, clutching his leg, which now looked like a rotting grape. He was bit by Tina-Arachnia's lower half!!!  
  
Dave limped forward, his lightsaber ignited, and cut apart the webbing that bound the echidna princess to the wall...before he collapsed to the ground.  
  
Adonna-Lyn knew she was going to have to work quickly if Dave was to have a chance to live. Harukask venom was known to be extremely potent...even to the Royalty of Chandral! She found some Nikto berries in her backpack and sliced one open with her fist claws. "Just hang in there, Master Dave." Adonna-Lyn said as she poured the purified, healing juices of the berry into Dave's wound and his mouth.  
  
Dave stirred a bit as Adonna-Lyn put her healing abilities to use. He looked up and said, "Your Highness...you saved my life..."  
  
"Hey, you'd do the same for me, hedge-boy." she replied with a wink she finished her healing work.  
  
"Hedge-boy?" Dave asked...just as he noticed Hanako up there, "So that's where she wound up. We'll have to get her down."  
  
"Why? She looks pretty comfortable...and she has some new friends up there." Adonna-Lyn said...but after a look from Dave, laughed, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding! I'll get her down."  
  
She then launched several pyshic bursts that cut at the strands around Hanako's head and sides, so then, she swung down, hanging by her feet. She gave Adonna-Lyn a rotten look once she stopped swinging.  
  
"At least you're not Tina's latest meal." Adonna-Lyn said as she telekinetically ripped the webbing off of Hanako...which felt like duct tape being pulled off of her.  
  
"OW!" Hanako screamed aloud, "DAMN IT, THAT HURT!"  
  
Dave helped Hanako up and said, "Come, let's get out of here."  
  
Tina-Arachnia, who was now hopelessly tied up her own webbing, noticed a panel above her scorpian-like tail. She looked to see where the three intruders were...and grinned. "Let's see how far you morsels get before this hits you." She then made her tail hit the panel, which activated the trap.  
  
Hanako heard something...it sounded like a bowling ball being rolled...but it was bigger...and it was heading their way!  
  
They looked and saw a huge boulder rolling their way...and from the blood stains, they could immediately tell it was used before. "Oh, sure. There just HAS TO BE a rolling-boulder death trap!" Adonna-Lyn commented.   
  
"RUUUUUUUUUUUN!" Dave shouted.  
  
As they did so, they ran down a passage, Tina-Arachnia's wicked laughter echoing after them. Adonna-Lyn turned to Hanako and said, "Well, that rules you out for who activated that trap."  
  
Dave turned back at them and said, "I don't care which one of you starts the fighting...I'LL FINISH IT IF THAT BOULDER DOESN'T!"  
  
The two girls looked at each other and decided to hold their quarrels for later.  
  
Dave then looked and saw that a wall was slowly starting to come down in front of them. Using their Jedi speed, Dave and Hanako ran and ducked under the wall. Adonna-Lyn rolled under the falling wall...and felt that something was missing. She looked, saw her crown on the other side of the wall...and grabbed it just as the wall nearly finished its descent.   
  
They heard the boulder slam into the wall...then began rolling away. They took this chance to catch their breath...just as Hanako saw the boulder rolling towards them again from the corridor off to their right!  
  
"You have got to be kidding me." Adonna-Lyn remarked.   
  
"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Dave yelled.  
  
"I don't know about you two, but I'm getting sick of this!" Adonna-Lyn said as she powered up a psychic beam and fired it at the boulder. It exploded upon impact from the beam...but a shard flew and hit the echidna princess in the head, knocking her out.  
  
"Princess!" Dave cried as he ran over to her unconcious form and picked her up.  
  
"So now what, Master Dave?" Hanako asked.  
  
"For now, we'll see where this passage leads...and hope it leads to a way out of here." Dave replied as he heaved the echidna princess over his shoulder.  
  
FICC, Mess Hall, 7:36 AM...  
  
Espio turned to Neela as she entered the Mess Hall and asked, "How long will it take Adonna-Lyn to recover from this Chandral Flu?"  
  
Neela simpley replied, "It's hard to tell. It can last from a week up to a month."  
  
"A MONTH?!" Vector shouted, "I can't take it anymore! John had to move in with me...and I can't listen to m'tunes without him waking up and asking me to turn it off!"  
  
"Who listens to their music in bed?" Espio asked snidely.  
  
"I DO!" Vector snapped, "And if I don't get to listen to some hardcore jives at night, I CAN GET REALLY CRANKY!!!"  
  
Mighty looked up from his meal and said, "How do you think John's holding up?"  
  
Speak of the devil, John entered, bags under his eyes. He walked over to the food replicator, put a pancake in his cup, and poured coffee on to his plate. When he tried his unusual breakfast, he spit out the forkfull of coffee and said, "I'll have to get Heavy to work on the food replicators. These pancakes are starting to taste like crap." With that, he left the Mess Hall.  
  
Charmy shook his head. "This just can't be healthy for John, being separated from Adonna-Lyn like this. It's taking a severe toll on his sanity."  
  
Vector remarked, "Forget his sanity. Try his much needed sleep...then again, I guess anyone sleeping with Adonna-Lyn is guaranteed more than a good night's sleep." Everyone just stared at him. "WHAT?!" Vector asked.  
  
"THAT is just the most revolting thing I've heard come out of your mouth." Espio commented.  
  
Mighty simply left, saying, "Before you guys have a chance to bring up any comparisons, I'm outta here."  
  
"Mighty, wait up!" Neela cried out after the armadillo as she ran after him.  
  
Espio caught her arm and said, "Not so fast, squirrel girl."  
  
"What are you doing? Let go of me!" Neela protested.  
  
"Somethin's up around here, and I think you're in on it." Espio snapped, "I think it's a little too convenient that Adonna-Lyn gets sick a while after Bossman John turns down her covert operations plan. Where is her Royal High-and-Mighty-ness?! TALK!" Espio then began twisting her arm. Neela cried out in pain.  
  
"Espio...step away from the girl." Vector warned while he and Charmy ducked under another table.  
  
"Why?" Espio said, looking their way.  
  
"Because of me." Mighty said...as he punched Espio in the face and sent him flying until his horn got stuck in the middle of a dartboard in the back of the Mess Hall.  
  
"BULLSEYE!" Vector shouted out loud. Mighty sternly looked towards the crocodile. "Um...not bullseye?" Vector gulped.  
  
"Why didn't you guys stop him?!" Mighty shouted at Vector and Charmy, "You could have stopped this cruelty!"  
  
"Well, we figured since she's YOUR girlfriend..." Vector said, still under the table.  
  
"Girlfriend?" Mighty said, blushing, looking towards Neela, "She's one of us, a Chaotix. We look out for each other...not harm each other, Espio!"  
  
But when he made this remark, Espio had completely vanished from sight. Shaking his head, he left the room.  
  
Neela looked towards the others, and left.  
  
Espio finally came into view, crawling along the celing before he dropped down.  
  
"Espio, man, you have some serious issues you need to work out." Vector said, "I mean, you hurt Neon, you hurt Adonna-Lyn, and you hurt the squirrel girl. What is your problem with the ladies?"  
  
"One broke my heart...and nearly got me killed a long time ago. Ever since, I've never trusted women throughout my life." Espio replied coldly, "I'm going to be keeping an eye on that girl...I think there's more to this than she's willing to share."  
  
"One bit of advice, Espio." Charmy suggested, "If you have to ask questions, you can do so without twisting an arm...because if you repeat what you did around Neela, Mighty's going to put you into your grave."  
  
Neela managed to duck into a corridor where Heavy and Bomb were. "I don't know how long I can keep this up. I think Espio knows that something is up." Neela said to the Mechanix Drone.  
  
"We have to cover for Adonna-Lyn as long as possible. John must not fall to the Dark Side. As I'm sure you've encountered, his darker half is extremely powerful...and if it were to take him over completely..." Heavy said.  
  
"I get it. I get it!" Neela replied after looking about furtively, "Heavy, I know it's crazy asking a machine this, but...how can I get Mighty to like me?"  
  
Heavy looked up at Neela and asked, "What?"  
  
"I mean, aside from everyone else here (with the exception of Espio), Mighty is the only one who has expressed a serious liking to me. I know he wants to admit that he's fallen in love with me...but he just won't say it." she admitted.  
  
Mighty knocked on the door to the Central Control room. "Come in." John said from within.  
  
As the armadillo entered, John turned his chair around to face him and said, "Mighty. What's on your mind?"  
  
"Well,....it's about me and Neela..." Mighty started.  
  
"Ah, yes...I think you guys make a cute couple." John said, smiling a bit.  
  
"Well, that's just it! I...I don't know how to truly express how I really feel about her." Mighty replied, "I mean, I am attracted to her...but I can't go ahead and just say that I'm head over heels!"  
  
John rubbed his fingers together...then said, "Well, it took me some time to warm up to Adonna-Lyn when I met her on my first time on her homeworld. Just keep up doing nice things for her and defending her. That's just about the best thing I can recommend."  
  
"You think so?" Mighty asked.  
  
"I KNOW so." John replied.  
  
Mighty took in a long breath of air and said, "Well, I'll give it a shot. Thanks, John."  
  
"Anytime, buddy." John said.  
  
  
  
Detrossa, 9:47 AM  
  
Neon took a deep breath as she finally took shelter amongst the large leaves of Botanicular. She was completely chased away from the airborne city where she was...so much for warm greetings....even worse, she left poor Caylis behind...  
  
"Looking for this little chap?" a voice said. She looked and saw Zefer, with Caylis in his hands, yelping happily at the sight of his owner.  
  
Neon grabbed Caylis from him...and punched him the face! "You idiot! I was trying to enjoy myself in that city...and you inadvertantly sic-ed a xenophobic crowd on me!" she shouted at him.  
  
"Look, it was not intentional. I had no idea my people had little tolerance for intruders...rather, those who have been away from Detrossa for so long..." Zefer tried to explain.  
  
"Oh, sure...and that's your reason to get me chased out while I was just SIGHT-SEEING?!" Neon yelled. She then tackled Zefer to the ground and wrestled with him. Zefer aimed his hand at Neon...and a strong wind forced the female Detrossian off of her. After recovering, she surmized that Zefer's kind were able to control the wind around him.  
  
"Slick trick...let me show you mine!" Neon said as she began to call upon her pyrokinesis...just as a vine began to wrap around her, pinning her arms and wings to her sides. Caylis hopped down from the branches above and began biting at the vine...just as several more wrapped around him and his owner. Almost in no time at all, Neon and Caylis looked like a couple of vegetation-wrapped mummies.  
  
"There will be no fireworks here in my land, Neon Dragon." Dralius, Botanicular's representative said as she floated down to the ground on her leaf-like wings, "I will not have my peoples' homes burned to the ground."   
  
"If I may, Lady Dralius, it was more my fault than hers. I kind of...ruined her visit to my city." Zefer interupted.  
  
"Prince Zefer...can't you stay in your palace home without causing trouble for anyone else?!" Dralius said, casting the Aerisan a sharp look.  
  
"PRINCE?! That little creep's a prince?!" Neon exclaimed...even though it was muffled by the vines around her mouth.  
  
"I can't stand palace life!" Zefer complained, "All the rules and pomp...I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT!"  
  
"It is what is called 'responsibility'! I knew that throughout my life when I was raised to be Botanicular's representive on the High Council." Dralius argued, "We all have our place in Detrossa...you should know that by now!"  
  
"And suppose some of us choose NOT to accept it?" Zefer said angrily.  
  
"If you two are quite done, would you kindly GET ME OUT OF THIS?!" Neon called to them, finally getting her mouth free.  
  
Dralius aimed her wooden staff at Neon and Caylis, the flowers on it glowing. The vines finally began to release both Detrossian and Dragdogon. "Now take this fight elsewhere." Dralius said as she began flapping her wings and flying up to the great branches of the tree close to her, "I will not have the peace and tranquility of my mother forest disrupted."  
  
Once Neon, Caylis, and Zefer left Botanicular, she slapped Zefer upside the head and said, "You're a prince...and you were going to tell me this WHEN?!"  
  
"And let the guards of my palace home escort me back?! I think not." Zefer replied, "I would rather live life the way it was meant to be lived...to be free. You have no idea how sick I get of seeing nothing but clouds all my life. I would rather explore the lands below then spend time being the royal dress-up doll!"  
  
"Neon! There you are!" Hyro called as he descended to the three-some, "After Zefer told me you were being chased like that, I went looking for you...little did I know it was on HIS directions!"  
  
"Well, EXCUUUUUUUUUSE ME!" Zefer said, rolling his eyes.  
  
Hyro huffed and said, "Well, sorry about Aerisa, Neon. I completely forgot how they feel about those who have been away from Detrossa for so long..."  
  
"I'm getting that very feeling already, HYRO!" Neon snapped, "I mean, everywhere we've gone, everyone stares at me like I'm a Sith or something like that! It's a wonder that I haven't been lynched!!!"  
  
After she calmed down a little, she said, "Man, I could go for a pizza right now..."  
  
Hyro and Zefer exchanged odd looks. "Pete-za?" Hyro asked.  
  
"Yeah, pizza! Dough, tomato sauce, mozzerella cheese, choice of toppings...any of this ringing a bell?!" Neon asked.  
  
Upon hearing no response at all, she stormed away from them, muttering, "What kind of world doesn't have pizza?!"  
  
Sandopolis Zone, 11:41 AM...  
  
"Together?" Hanako asked Dave.  
  
Dave nodded as he replied, "Together."  
  
They aimed their hands at the large block of sandstone before them, calling upon the Force to shove the stone out of the way. As they blocked their eyes to keep out the sand that tumbled from the block's removal, they were met with the heat of the Sandopolis midday.  
  
"Uhh....so, we're out of this underground harak'tha-hole?" Adonna-Lyn asked as she began to recover from her unconciousness, slung over Dave's shoulder.  
  
"Yes, your Highness...and look." Dave said pointed as he allowed Adonna-Lyn to stand on her barefeet.  
  
"Right into the Taekwraith's den." the echidna princess remarked as, about four miles before them, was an encampment...and from what she could sense, the inhabitants teemed with cruel intent. The Dark Legion!  
  
"So, we found them." Adonna-Lyn said with a satisfied smile.  
  
"Now what?" Hanako asked.  
  
"Yes....we can't just walk right up to the camp...and I'm sure John gave you the reasons why." Dave said.  
  
"Please, don't remind me." Adonna-Lyn replied, "I do have this one plan in mind, but we'll have to wait until nightfall."  
  
Just then, a Dark Legion fighter craft slowly approached their position. It was a small, one-person, saucer-shaped craft. The legionare looked like a rookie: he wasn't really tall, had a lanky frame...add that to the fact that he wasn't even carrying a weapon.  
  
Adonna-Lyn began to concentrate her powers...and brought the craft their way.  
  
"Are you crazy?!" Hanako shouted at the echidna princess, just as the craft was a few feet away from them, the pilot panicking, no doubt at the fact that he had lost control of the craft.  
  
"Oh no, you don't!" Adonna-Lyn said as she then telekinetically paralyzed the legionare, making sure he stayed in the craft.  
  
Once the craft was right where they were, Dave shut off the engine. The pilot was grabbed by Adonna-Lyn and thrown against a wall, where a sickening crunch of bones was heard upon impact. "Did you have to kill him?" Hana asked.  
  
"And have him report back to the Dark Legion of our prescence here? Yeah, right!" Adonna-Lyn laughed as she removed the legionare's dark hood and uniform, "Hanako, put this on. What you're going to do is report back to the Dark Legion. It will help throw suspicion far from us and allow us to get the info we need."  
  
With that, Hana put the outfit on, got into the craft and began to pilot the ship back to the Dark Legion's camp.  
  
"Your Highness, this is too risky. The Dark Legion will know she's without cybernetic attatchments. It won't be easy to fool them." Dave said as he watched Hana vanish into the camp.  
  
"Then you better pray that you've trained her well." Adonna-Lyn said, "For now, we'll have to prepare for tonight."  
  
FICC, 12:01 PM...  
  
John sat down in the Dojo, his legs crossed, his eyes closed, his hands in meditative gesture. He called upon the highest extent of his power. He had to know if Adonna-Lyn was suffering greatly. Even though Neela assured him that his beloved wife would be okay in a month, it certainly failed to encourage the blue echidna.  
  
As he projected his telepathic vision into their bedroom, he noticed that something was wrong. The form in the bed was not stirring at all! Before he even gave into panic, he tried to focus his power even further...but could not even sense what was going on.  
  
"Awe, poor baby wants to see what's wrong with his wifey-poo." The Enforcer taunted through John's mouth.  
  
"What do you want, you grim grinnin' ghost?" John asked sarcastically.  
  
"Not much...except to tell you that something is a-missing." the Enforcer replied.  
  
John frowned and asked, "What are you going on about?"  
  
"Oh, open your eyes and realize what's going on! Your own allies have pulled the wool over your eyes." the Enforcer growled, "Your wife is not even here! Your friends have betrayed you!"  
  
"No...I don't believe it." John said shakingly, "They're loyal to me as I am to them. You're just saying that to..."  
  
"Lure you to the Dark Side of the Force...a little too late for that, aren't we?" the Enforcer teased, "You've been on the path to the Dark Side from the beginning! Back to the matter at hand...two of your 'loyal friends' have had their hands in covering up the disappearance of your wife...geez, you're dense!"  
  
John's teeth were clenched. He refused to accept this pack of lies..."Attention. Luncheon is served." Aptiva reported.  
  
With that, John stood up and began to leave the Dojo...with the Enforcer hissing, "Soon...very soon, you self-absorbed fool..."  
  
Blue Fang's HQ, 12:57 PM...  
  
Magmus brooded in his carved out room of the cave. He could feel something...something big was brewing in the air...something that would hold severe consequences for his fellow comrades.  
  
Suddenly, he sensed that he was no longer alone, with Rieko sleeping in his shirt pocket. He whipped out his sword and found himself face-to-face with Kazuna. "And...you are?" Magmus asked, sheathing his sword as he saw that the Chandralite Kitsune did not even have a weapon drawn.  
  
"Who I am is not important. Listen and listen well, Magmus of Detrossa." Kazuna said, "It is imperitive that Prince Jirrard Calyon Echidna survives his next bout with the Enforcer. See to it that he lives."  
  
"That little worm? I think I'll just let that tin-plated tinkertoy take him out." Magmus replied, arrogantly turning away from Kazuna...just as several chains were thrown around him! He looked and saw Tanikai holding the chains on the other end.  
  
"Perhaps THIS should convince you to see our point of view." Kazuna said, opening up a portal to a severely cold world with several gestures of her hands, "Put him in."  
  
"No! WAIT!" Magmus shouted...as Tanikai jump-kicked him through the portal while still holding onto the chains.  
  
"I'd give him 2 minutes before he cracks." the tanuki whispered to Kazuna.  
  
"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" Magmus shouted, "I'll watch over that little shit-head! Just get me out of here!" He already began to feel weak...weak enough that he was close to losing his conciousness...  
  
"He's had enough. Pull him out!" Kazuna instructed in Chandralese. Tanikai began pulling on the chain he had around Magmus and soon, the black Detrossian was out of the portal. Kazuna reversed her earlier hand gestures and closed the portal.  
  
"Do we have an understanding now, Magmus of Detrossa?" Kazuna hissed into Magmus' nearly frozen face.  
  
Shivering a bit, Magmus replied, "U-u-u-u-u-nders-s-s-s-s-stood!"  
  
"Good...don't disappoint us." Kazuna concluded as she and Tanikai once again "disappeared" into the shadows.  
  
Rieko emerged from Jirrard's pocket, shivering like crazy, shouting, "What the hell's going on?! One minute, I was sleeping in your warm comfortable pocket. The next thing I know, I was nearly freezing to death! Who did you piss off this time?!"  
  
"No one I'd know of...but whoever those two, ninja-clad clauds are, it seems they're insistent on Jirrard living through our next encounter with the Enforcer and his troops." Magmus surmized.  
  
"Hey, scale butt! Get moving! Blue Fang says we have to rendez-vous with the Dark Legion in 20 minutes. NOW, MOVE!" Sleet shouted into Magmus' little lair.  
  
"Once I rule this galaxy, I'm going to blast these warm-bloods into oblivion." Magmus snarled as he got up and left the chamber.  
  
On his way out, he bumped into Jirrard. The echidna prince was dressed differently than he usually was. He was wearing a greyish-blue cloth that wrapped around his head and gave him the appearance of a desert assassin, a cloth that held up his large scimitar, sandles that ended with an upward curve at the toes, and a cloth-like belt with a sapphire over the buckle. Otherwise, he was wearing his ornamental golden bands and jewelry.  
  
"And he's wearing THIS into what might be his last fight?" Magmus thought, "What a schmuck!"  
  
Jirrard heard his thoughts and thought to himself, "Last fight, my tail-less behind! If anything, it will be the Enforcer's last bout with me...."  
  
FICC's Central Control Room, 2:11 PM...  
  
John still couldn't shake the thought of it...what IF one of his friends were betraying him by playing a cruel prank on him? If so, he had to rule out which one.  
  
Vector? John immediately dismissed him without a second thought. Vector was no Einstein, but he was dead loyal to John and one of his oldest friends.  
  
Mighty? Sure, Mighty was physically strong, but he certainly wasn't an idiot. Still, Mighty was loyal to John and the blue echidna decided against the possibility of Mighty betraying him.  
  
Charmy? No. The bee was smart enough to know what would happen to him if John got mad.  
  
Espio? John paused on that thought. Even for a chaemeleon, Espio was really shifty-eyed...but even this color-changing lizard was smart enough not to cross John.  
  
Heavy and Bomb? They WERE one-time servants of the late Dr. Robotnik, but they developed conciousness and a conscience. Heavy was loyal...and John wasn't stupid enough to piss Bomb off.  
  
Neon...John slapped his head! Neon was back on her homeworld of Detrossa. DUH!  
  
Neela...there, John stopped immediately. Even though she was a Chaotix member now, he knew she was fiercely loyal to Adonna-Lyn...and she did cover for the echidna princess whenever she'd leave her palace home to explore her world.  
  
He put his head down. After all, Neela was a sweet young girl...however...  
  
John then looked at one of the screens...namely, the one that gazed into the Master Bedroom. When he tried to use the infrared scan option...his suspicions were confirmed when it didn't respond! It was old footage, long before John had the infrared scanners installed. Someone HAS betrayed him!  
  
He fell back in his chair. Why?! Why would one of his loyal friends do this to him?  
  
"Sir?" Heavy said behind him.  
  
John turned around to face the Mechanix Drone.   
  
"It is time for one of Neela's training sessions, sir." Heavy reported.  
  
"Very well. Heavy, I need you to run some system checks here and there, mainly on surveilence and the food replicators." John ordered.  
  
"Yes, sir." Heavy replied as John left. The robot then went over to the keyboard...it was warm..."Gads...he knows!" Heavy gasped.  
  
In the training room, Neela was already practicing with several of the dummies that kept popping up out of the floor. She kicked, punched, jumped, spun, and slashed at the dummies with her De'kar stick. There was no fierceness in her strikes, but calmness. She felt the Force flow through her as she practiced the moves that would undoubtedly keep her alive in the near future.  
  
Suddenly, one of the dummies sprung up under her. She quickly leaped and landed on top of it, her slipper-covered feet on its head. She jumped off of it and landed on the ground gracefully...just as a blade surged up out of the ground! It came only centimeters from severing her nose from the rest of her body. Only a quick leap backwards kept her from being skewered as a whole group of blades shot out of the ground.  
  
"What's going on? I didn't ask for THIS difficulty level in my training session today. Where is John?" she wondered...just one of the pillers in the room nearly came down on her. Once again, her agility saved her. The piller then set itself back up, almost like it was trying to swat her like a fly. Another piller tried to come down on her, but she dodged that, too.  
  
"Having fun, little Jedi?" she heard a harsh, near-mechanical voice asked tauntingly, "Why don't you tell your ol' friend Johnny-boy your little secret and who's in on this little charade, hmmm?"  
  
Neela gasped. The Enforcer!  
  
"C'mon. Be a good little girl and tell us what we wanna hear...if not, enjoy your life as a pancake!" the Enforcer laughed maniacally, "It's only gonna get worse the more you fight back."  
  
More dangerous traps began to fill the training room. From sharp objects flying all over the place to part of the walls, celing and floor flying toward her trying to smash her. Neela didn't how much more this she could take! She immediately looked towards the door.  
  
"Oh. Looking for a way out now, aren't ya?" the Enforcer taunted, "Good luck getting to it...cuz now, it's level 10 on the frickin' danger level."  
  
Suddenly, the power went out.  
  
She then heard the Enforcer shouting, "WHAT THE HELL?! I WAS SOOOOOOO CLOSE! I could have had her as a shish-kabob! OF ALL THE ROTTEN *&^!?~%$# LUCK!"  
  
With that, Neela bolted for the door. As long as the traps were down, she was gonna get the harak'tha out of there!  
  
"Ah, wait...here we are." the Enforcer said as he got the power back on...and saw her at the door, "AWE, DAMN IT!"  
  
Unfortunately, the door was locked shut.  
  
"What's it gonna be, little girl? I've disabled your voice recognition module so Aptiva's not your way out now! Just tell us what we want to hear or be smashed, skewered, blasted, whatever!" the Enforcer demanded.  
  
Before she even said a thing...a pair of hands began to pull the door open! It was Mighty!  
  
"Hurry, Neela. I don't know how long I can keep this open!" the superstrong armadillo strained himself to say.  
  
Quickly, Neela rolled through the door and Mighty allowed the door to slam shut. He went over to her and asked, "Are you alright?"  
  
"I've got a better question: Had enough?" the Enforcer asked through John's mouth.  
  
"JOHN?! Why are you doing this?!" Mighty asked, putting himself between his boss and Neela.  
  
"Who...Oh, right. You mean my wimpier half-self." the Enforcer replied, his red eyes glowing through John's pupils.  
  
Just then, with a hard clang, the Enforcer's eyes rolled back as he fell to the ground. Heavy was right behind him, holding a wrench.  
  
Back in the Sandopolis Zone, Dark Legion camp, 4:01 PM...  
  
"You've been gone quite a long time, agent Fairhall." Kragok said while eyeing her suspiciously, "Where have you been all this time?"  
  
"I was shoved off the Floating Island down into the sector of Mobius known as the Great Forest." Hana replied, trying to keep up her original Dark Legion bad attitude, "There was some kind of village there. Supposedly the home of the Freedom Fighters."  
  
"Ah, yes, the same group that brought down one of our...benefactors." Kragok mused, "I shall certainly enjoy destroying those miserable pricks. *AHEM!* For now, report to Soldier Debriefing. We have reason to believe that a small force of intruders has appeared on the Floating Island and, due to the use of the Speed-Chaser missles, we believe that the hedgehog Sonic might be with them. I want all troops on full alert!"  
  
Dark Legion camp outskirts, 8:34 PM...  
  
"Do I really have to wear this get-up?" Dave asked as he faced the encampment, wearing clothes that made him look like a desert merchant.  
  
"It's important for my plan, Master Dave...besides, you look so CUTE in it." Adonna-Lyn teased, applying her dancer disguise while hiding behind a dune of sand, "Now remember the story: we're traveling gypsies whose caravan was viciously attacked by scarabs, the two of us being the only survivors."  
  
"This won't work. The minute they see an inch of green skin on you..." Dave began to protest.  
  
"Leave that to me. Now go on. I won't put on the performance until I hear the signal." she replied as she began tucking a long, aqua veil into different parts of her disguise.  
  
Dave sucked in a breath of air and began to trudge dangerously close to the camp. One Dark legionare spotted him and shouted, "You there! FREEZE!"  
  
"Please, humble sir, have pity on me!" Dave said, beginning to grovel at the foot of the legionare, "My family, my friends,....my fellow moors were attacked and killed by these horribley large bugs! Only I and this dancer, a lovely member of your species if I'm not mistaken, survived."  
  
The legionare's cybernetic eye-brow lifted a little, asking, "A dancer?"  
  
"Yes, a dancer...and what a dancer! She could turn even the cruelest heads around with every sway of her hips, with every bow of her head, with every bat of her eyes, with every..." Dave began to list.  
  
That is, until the Legionarre interupted, "ALRIGHT! I get the point...well, where is she?"  
  
"You must excuse her, affendi, but she is a very shy being, she is...perhaps a melody will bring her out." Dave replied as he brought a pair of small drums. With that, he began the performance.  
  
The legionare looked on as the silohuette of a young, female echidna, covered in the silken clothes of a dancer, began to slowly and gracefully approach the lights of the camp.  
  
"She's beautiful...she's graceful..." the legionare drooled."She's...RED?!" Dave thought in utter surprise. Adonna-Lyn's skin had turned a bright red, every last inch of her (the only exception being her dreadlocks and hair).  
  
"I'll explain later. Just keep up the music, hedge-boy." he heard the echidna princess telepathically instruct him as she continued her gracefully enticing performance.  
  
"Hedge-boy?" Dave thought.  
  
More of the Dark Legion began to swarm about the site where Dave and Adonna-Lyn had approached the camp, either clapping to the rhythm of Dave's drums or hooting and leering at Adonna-Lyn as she danced. She almost felt sick to her stomach, seeing these partially-mechanical echidnas. What kind of weirdos would allow such horrible mutilation to be done on them?! Still, with her face calm and her posture full of power and pride, she continued to dance, undulating her belly to every beat of Dave's drums.  
  
Kragok, the Dark Legion's current leader, emerged from his tent fuming. Just what the devil was all the racket loud enough to break his focus on his war plans? He seized one of the legionares running past his tent with his cyborg hand and demanded, "What on Mobius is going on, private?!"  
  
"A couple of gypsies wandered into this camp...one of them is a dancer, sir!" the private replied.  
  
With that, Kragok tossed the private aside then headed for the rest of the huddled soldiers, which he shoved aside...then gasped at the sight of the dancing echidna female.  
  
Adonna-Lyn, after she had noticed Kragok's appearance, began untucking the aqua veil she had, danced over to the Dark Legion's leader, and draped it around him in a circular motion, winked at him...then pulled his hood over his eyes. Kragok fumbled to pull his hood up...but continued to gaze in stunned awe at the echidna princess.  
  
She then danced over to the center of the circle of the gathered legionares, spun around and around quickly, then slowly while crouching down until she finished with a pose, her right leg extended forward, her left leg bended until her ankle was right under her right thigh, her head arched back, her arms extended skyward.  
  
The gathered rogues clapped excitedly and whistled. Some even shouted for an encore performance.  
  
Adonna-Lyn rose to her bare feet and bowed before the Dark Legion's leader respectfully.  
  
Dave also bowed after a look from her.  
  
"Tell me, what are your names?" Kragok asked.  
  
"I, affendi, am Lukeef Ella." Dave answered.  
  
"He can say that again!" one of the legionares joked, followed by a chorus of laughter from his fellow soldiers.  
  
"And your name, young lady?" Kragok asked while raising the echidna princess' chin with one of his cybernetic fingers.  
  
"I am Fara-Lan, my lord." Adonna-Lyn replied, wanting to flinch from the cold touch of this fiend's finger.  
  
"Lieutenant Lukar, see that these gypsies are given a tent and are properly accomodated. And see that the girl meets me in my tent in a couple of hours." Kragok whispered to the legionare who first spotted the two "gypsies".  
  
However, what Kragok was whispering did not escape Adonna-Lyn's earshot. And she quickly hid the look of disgust that was almost seen on her fair face.  
  
"Also, have Agent Fairhall keep an eye on them." Kragok ordered as he walked away.  
  
A couple of minutes later...  
  
"Guard over a couple of gypsies? What kind of stupid assignment is that?" Hanako wondered as she walked towards their tent.  
  
But as she entered, her jaw dropped upon seeing Adonna-Lyn with her skin's color change and..."Cute outfit, Master Dave." she lightly giggled.  
  
"Keep your voice down, young Fairhall." Dave whispered.  
  
With that, Hanako leaned against one side of their tent and asked, "So what's the story with your...skin? Got a little tan out there?"   
  
"The truth is that my people can change the color of our skin, mostly to confuse our enemies. Naturally, this ability comes at a pretty disadventageous price." Adonna-Lyn explained, "I can't use any of my higher demanding pyschic powers (namely, barriers, psychic bursts, beams, teleports, and telekenesis). I'm limited to only telepathy, mind control, and healing. And I'm stuck like this until..."  
  
"Until what?" Hanako asked.  
  
"Until I am touched by an echidna of Chandral blood." Adonna-Lyn replied.  
  
"Gee, like that will happen around this place." Hanako said while rolling her eyes.  
  
"What is YOUR problem?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
"YOU! This was YOUR plan and NOW you're having second thoughts?! Take a look around, sister! It's a little too late for that!" Hanako harshly whispered.  
  
The tent's door opened up and a pair of Dark Legionares stepped in, one of them saying, "Commander Kragok wishes to see the gypsy girl in his tent...now."  
  
She looked towards her two companions and telepathically said, "Wish me luck."  
  
After she left, Hanako turned to Dave and asked, "So, where did you get the cute outfit?"  
  
"Ask her." Dave replied.  
  
As Adonna-Lyn was led through the camp, she watched as the other legionares were preparing for the imminent war, getting weapons charged, vehicles fueled, war droids recharged, and other activities. She then, in her most innocent voice, asked, "What is going on?"  
  
"Nothing that should concern you, gypsy girl." the guard replied.  
  
"You're welcome for the free performance, asshole." she thought smugly.  
  
Finally, they reached the tent of Kragok. The guards then took their places outside the tent on both sides of its opening. With a deep breath, she entered, thinking, "Here goes nothing...HEY!" One of the Legionnares pinched her and snickered...big mistake...one he'd be paying for later.  
  
She saw Kragok sitting there, grinning as she approached him. "You wish to see me, affendi?" she asked.  
  
"Yes...but, I think I would want more than just to see you." Kragok answered as he rose and crossed over to her.  
  
Immediately, Adonna-Lyn knew what he was after...not that she was going allow him to go after it.   
  
Before Kragok got too close, Adonna-Lyn stabbed him with one of her spurs, injecting enough of her paralyzing venom to knock the creep out until morning.  
  
"Guuuaarrrrr-***!" Kragok began to shout until the venom hit his brain and shut him down.  
  
"Did you hear something?" one of the guards asked.  
  
"Yeah. Kragok must be having a better time with that girl than we thought." the other guard replied with a chuckle.  
  
Adonna-Lyn smiled, thinking, "If only John could see me now..." She then saw what looked like a head-sized, glowing black crystal atop some kind of machine. She could barely sense anything from it...for a moment, as then she saw a slight bit of disruption in its glow.  
  
But before she had a chance to get a better look at it, something looped around her throat and pulled back hard...someone was trying to strangle her.  
  
"I thought there was something up. You moors...nothing more but common thieves." a female voice snarled behind her.  
  
Adonna-Lyn tried to toss her would-be killer over her shoulder...only to have Komissar, Kragok's sister, land on her high-heel-style boots and kick the echidna princess in the face. Adonna-Lyn gasped; a bit of her DARK-GREEN blood had landed on the ground from her mouth.  
  
"Wha...dark green blood..." Komissar wondered aloud...before Adonna-Lyn tripped the legionare 2nd-in-command and stabbed her repeatedly with her spurs.  
  
"Better cover this up." Adonna-Lyn thought, taking handfuls of sand and pouring over every splotch of her blood that she found. It would keep the Dark Legion from acquiring DNA samples for another bio-weapon like John, and it could possibley keep Blue Fang and her gang from knowing she was there.  
  
She then seized the crystal from the machine, wrapped her long aqua veil around it (amazed that Kragok kept it that long), and prepared to leave...but first, the guards...  
  
One guard looked in to see what was going on, and was promptly pulled in and stabbed by Adonna-Lyn's spurs. The other guard looked...only to get punched real hard and knocked out.  
  
Adonna-Lyn used her limited powers to wipe the recent events of the night from their minds. And then, just for fun, she put Kragok on top of his sister and the two guards on top of each other. "This will be a real shock to these bozos in the morning." she thought as she left, taking the cloak and hood of the guard who pinched her.  
  
She then began to leave the tent, focusing her mental abilities to make all of the other legionares fall asleep.  
  
Suddenly, she heard a sickening sound as a crimson-red, scorpion shaped spacecraft flew over her head and landed on the other side of the camping grounds. It was the "Crimson Howl", Sleet and Dingo's ship...and without a doubt, their boss and the rest of the group would be with them.   
  
She quickly ran back to the tent where Dave and Hanako were...her mission was now on the verge of a complete disaster!  
  
Detrossa, 9:47 PM...  
  
Neon threw the last of the sticks she had gathered onto the pile that she and Hyro formed. With a slight gesture, Neon set the pile ablaze. The fire felt so comfortable...  
  
"Hyro, what was the castrophe that caused my egg to be sent to Mobius?" she asked.  
  
"Basically, it was before we had chosen to have our world pulled into a dimensional warp." Hyro started, "Some time ago, during the Sith Wars, Detrossa was once a part of the Mobadan System, in orbit between Mobius and Chandral. Then, a ship of Sith scouts came to Detrossa...and began experimenting on our kind!"  
  
"They had found that the blood of Detrossians had various applications...even as an agent for creating armor!" Zefer added, "I mean, how warped is THAT?!"  
  
"It was only when a few of Detrossa's best sorcerors uncovered the Sith's prescence and wiped them out did we save our world. But one of the sorcerors had found that they had already related their findings to the rest of their Dark Side associates." Hyro went on to explain, "Knowing that our people would be put at risk, the High Council chose one potential option: to literally hide the entire planet from the rest of the galaxy. Those very sorcerors, armed with Chaos Emeralds they had harvested from Mobius, used their power to pull Detrossa into a warp zone. However, the High Council chose to scatter our eggs across the galaxy, hoping they would be safe during the planetary relocation, seeing as the eggs take a while to hatch."  
  
Zefer laughed a little and said, "My egg, according to my parents, took two years to hatch."  
  
"Hold up." Hyro said, silencing everyone. He crouched low...then pounced upon a pig-sized, two-legged, scaly animal.  
  
It had a mouth full of teeth suited for a plant-eater, but it had sharp claws on its forelimbs, three eyestalks, a frill around its pihrana-like head, and a tail ending in a combination of a scorpian's stinger and a rattlesnake's rattle.  
  
"Oh, how delicious; a Mugwark!" Zefer cheered, clapping his hands excitedly as Hyro twisted the creature's head and broke its spine.  
  
" 'Delicious'?" Neon gulped.  
  
"Didn't you know? Mugwarks are an extremely pleasurable delicacy on this world. You haven't LIVED until you've sampled a roast leg of Mugwark." Zefer informed.  
  
"There's no way in Hell I'm eating something that ugly!" Neon snorted as Hyro took out his sword and cut off the Mugwark's tail.  
  
"Never eat the tail. We had several deaths due to not completely severing the tail from the rest of the creature, seeing as its tail contains a defensive poison." Hyro said as he skewered the Mugwark and held it over the fire.  
  
"How did you keep yourself from being stun?" she asked.  
  
"I used my sword to pin its tail down to the ground. Mugwarks aren't entirely bright creatures, so it didn't know enough to shake my sword off." Hyro explained, rotating his sword over the fire.  
  
Suddenly, a sharp smell hit Neon's nose. The Mugwark's cooking flesh was giving off an aroma like the imported Nerf meat John often purchased. Even Caylis, who had never even seen a Mugwark, began to salivate with anticipation.  
  
"And that...should just about do it." Hyro said as he brought the roasted creature away from the fire.  
  
"Um, excuse me? We're not going to just eat the meat off the bone like a bunch of starving Snarks, are we?" Zefer asked, his arms crossed.  
  
Hyro rolled his eyes and, through magic, conjured up a plate and utensils for Zefer.  
  
"What was THAT all about?" Neon asked, eyeing Zefer suspiciously.  
  
"He's...just used to using a plate and utensils, that's all." Hyro answered...a bit apprehensively.  
  
Caylis yelped a little, going on his hindlegs. Finally, Hyro ripped a leg off of the Mugwark and brought it down to the Dragdogon's level...and quickly pulled his hand away as Caylis snatched it out of his hand and began to tear chunks of meat off the leg.  
  
"Hungry little bugger, isn't he?" Hyro asked of Neon.  
  
Neon tried a bit of the Mugwark meat...and nearly went nuts. IT WAS DELICIOUS! It had a bit of spiciness to it, but had a couple of other flavors that made her tastebuds leap about like crazy people.  
  
"I take it back. This absolutely ROCKS!" Neon shouted.  
  
Dark Legion Camp, 10:01 PM...  
  
"And I think this jewel is responsible for why neither electronic detectors, my telepathy, or even the Force couldn't detect the camp." Adonna-Lyn hypothesized, "It was hooked up to some sort of machine, possibley to amplify the power of the jewel."  
  
"The citizens of the Floating Island would be hit by the Dark Legion and not even know it." Hanako stated.  
  
"So, where did this jewel come from?" Dave asked.  
  
"Judging from the trace amounts of soil on it, I'd say it came from my world." Adonna-Lyn replied, "The Order of Darkness was notorious for using such jewels to throw off the senses of anyone who fought against them."  
  
"Well, then we should destroy it." Hanako said, going for her lightsaber.  
  
"No. John must know about this. You might need to prove of the Dark Legion's current prescence n the Floating Island...seeing as he's still a bit wary about trusting Jedi." Adonna-Lyn protested.  
  
Dave sensed something in the echidna princess' words. "Adon, you sound like you won't be returning with us." Dave noted aloud.  
  
"I just have this feeling, Master Dave...but if John is not alerted to Dark Legion's prescence here, they could take over the whole island...ruining a pristine paradise...so, regardless of what happens to me, you have to get this jewel to John. I'm counting on both of you Jedi to do this for me." Adonna-Lyn replied solemnly.  
  
Adonna-Lyn then remembered aloud, "On my way back, I saw the 'Crimson Howl' land. Blue Fang and her followers are here. We're running out of time. We'll depart in the morning, while they're busy preparing for their invasion."  
  
FICC Master Bedroom, 10:35 PM...  
  
John awoke in his room, with Neela and Heavy standing to attention. He shook his head repeatedly. He finally asked, "This whole thing...it was all a ruse, wasn't it?"  
  
"John, I'm sorry for this deception...but..." Neela began.  
  
"BUT NOTHING!" John roared, "How could you two do this, after all I've done for you?!"  
  
"It was Adonna-Lyn's decision...to go after the Dark Legion with Jedi Master Dave." Heavy stated.  
  
"WHAAAAAAAAT?! Has she lost her mind?!" John shouted, his skin turning a pale blue, "Even with that yellow Jedi fanatic, the Dark Legion is just too dangerous to tackle! What is she thinking?!"  
  
"She was thinking of protecting you!" Neela snapped, "She's doing this because she loves you too much to lose you, John! She's doing this to help you!"  
  
"A helluva lot that will do if she gets herself killed!" John remarked as he got out of his bed...and then fell to the ground, clutching his temples.  
  
"Sir!" Heavy called out.  
  
Neela rushed to John's side, trying to help him up...just as several black stripes began to appear on John's skin. "What on...ACK!" Neela wondered until one of John's dreadlocks wrapped around her neck. She soon found herself eye-to-red-glowing-eye with John's darker half!   
  
"Thanks for the wake-up call, little girl." the Enforcer hissed as he made John's fist-claws emerge, "I was getting sick of hearing that idiot's whining about that bratty princess. Now, it's my turn to play."  
  
Neela could just feel the dreadlock tightening its grip around her throat. As she tried to push herself away from John, she saw he was winding up his fist, with the claws extended, ready to stab her to death. "NO! John, don't!" Neela cried out.  
  
Heavy pulled out a hyrdospanner and prepared to club John over the head...just as the Enforcer turned on him and said, "Put the tool away, Heavy."  
  
"Sorry. Mind tricks don't work on robots...and I thought you were a Sith...Sith don't make such foolish mistakes." Heavy said as he brought the tool down on the blue echidna's head, causing an electrical discharge that knocked John out!  
  
Neela unwrapped the dreadlock from around her throat. She backed away and watched as the stripes began to disappear from his skin.  
  
John looked up, his eyes full of tears...then crawled towards Neela. At first, she tried to keep away...but then John embraced her, saying, "Neela, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me! I tried to hold...it...back, but..." He finally broke down into tears, his sobbing further convincing her of how sincere he was.  
  
"I should be damned...damned to the deepest fires of Hell for inflicting such pain and misery upon my own friends!" John wept, "If only I wasn't given such life...in which I so weakly hold back the demon that shares this vessal!"  
  
Neela put her arms around John, trying to calm him, saying, "It's alright, John....it's alright...."  
  
The Dark Legion Camp, 10:53 PM...  
  
Blue Fang looked about suspiciously as she and her gang of ner-do-wells walked through the camp. Every one of these dreadlocked freaks was asleep! For an army that was about to lay claim to the Enforcer's homeland, this was not an encouraging sight to the vixen enchantress.  
  
"What made all these buggers fall asleep?" Magmus asked, picking up then dropping a legionare's limb.  
  
Screech began to sniff at a faint scent, coming from Kragok's tent. With that, Screech entered, saw the knocked-out legionares...and a couple unnatural piles of sand. She dug under them...and found stains of dark green blood. She scooped up a handful, smelled it...and narrowed her yellow eyes.  
  
"Dark Sister! SHE IS HERE!" Lady Screech called out to Blue Fang.  
  
Blue Fang growled at the very mention of the particular "she" in question and shouted at her male lackeys, "Don't just stand there! Sleet and Dingo, set up an ambush on the outskirts of the camp. Magmus, you, your pet pixie and Jirrard will search the camp and don't come back without her, unconcious but alive."  
  
"Adonna-Lyn? HERE? How interesting..." Jirrard thought to himself.  
  
  
  
" 'Pet pixie' indeed! The nerve of that enchantress bitch!" Reiko fumed as she flew about. But as she got too close to one tent, a hand grabbed her and pulled her in! She soon found herself facing Dave, Hanako, and Adonna-Lyn.  
  
"HEY! LET ME GO!" Rieko shouted as she tried to get herself out of Dave's grip. She even tried to bite his hand...only to hear a slight *CLANG!* when she did.  
  
"I don't want to hurt you, litte one, but I can't allow you to report back to Blue Fang." Dave said as he took a Dark Legionare hood and put Rieko in it. He quickly tied the open end of the hood shut and hung it up on one of the poles of the tent. In the hood, Rieko screamed loudly and struggled to escape.  
  
"We better get out of here." Hanako said, "It won't be long before someone hears that little sprite and wakes up the whole damn camp."  
  
"I agree." Adonna-Lyn said while gazing at the couple of Dark Legion robes, "And I think I have an idea."  
  
Screech unleashed a loud scream into the air that quickly awoke everyone in the camp. Blue Fang, upon Kragok's awakening, grabbed the Dark Legion's leader by the neck and hoisted him into the air, snarling, "YOU IDIOT! HOW COULD YOU LET THAT ROYAL BRAT INTO THIS CAMP?!"  
  
"Wha...?" Kragok sputtered, since he was just coming out of his unconciousness.  
  
"DON'T PLAY STUPID WITH ME!" Blue Fang shouted at him, throttling him a little, "She was here! And to be terribley honest, you reek of her!"  
  
"I don't remember any royal brat." Kragok said, "I only remember this very sexy gypsy dancer...those haunting eyes, her silky red skin..."  
  
Blue Fang and Screech looked at each other. "So, she's changed the color of her skin." Screech hissed, "This will make finding that little imp hard to find."  
  
"Her skin color has changed, eh?" Jirrard thought as he stood outside of the tent, "Thanks for the tip, you hissing freak."  
  
As Adonna-Lyn threw on the Dark Legion robes, she looked over to Dave and said, "Dave, I want you and Hanako to know that I couldn't have chosen better travelling companions for such a dangerous mission as this."  
  
Dave blushed a little...then quickly got a hold of himself once he saw Hanako watching him with a smirk. "You're welcome, your Highness. It is a pleasure serving you."  
  
Just then, Magmus stuck his head into the tent, shouting, "GOTCHA!"  
  
Adonna-Lyn shrieked in surprise while Dave snapped, "Do you mind?!"  
  
"Oh, sorry." Magmus said as he pulled his head back out..."Hey, wait a minute."  
  
But as Magmus got into the tent, he recieved a spur-stab to the chest from Adonna-Lyn. He then fell face first to the ground. "Scratch two of Blue Fang's flunkies." Adonna-Lyn stated as she had her spur retract into her skin.  
  
With that, she took a Dark Legion robe, wrapped it around herself and changed from her dancer disguise back to her casual Chandralite clothes. "C'mon, let's get out of here." she said to Dave and Hanako.  
  
Hanako and Adonna-Lyn began walking out of the tent with Dave bringing up the rear. They quickly acted like they were searching for something to throw off anyone they crossed paths with.  
  
"You three! Did you find the intruders yet?" one guard directly in front of them asked.  
  
"No, we haven't." Adonna-Lyn responded, trying to sound as gruff as possible.  
  
"Well, keep searching for them, especially...Adonna-Lyn!" the guard sneered as he grabbed Adonna-Lyn's left wrist, "Blue Fang! I've found them!"  
  
Adonna-Lyn directed a hard telekinetic push and launched the hood of off..."JIRRARD!" Adonna-Lyn scowled.  
  
"The one and only, Adonna-Lyn, my love." Jirrard sneered as he telekinetically removed the legionare robes from the echidna princess.  
  
"You forget, as always, Jirrard." Dave said as he cast his disguise aside and kicked the wicked echidna prince across the face, "She's NOT your love."  
  
"More like your lust." Adonna-Lyn snapped as she and her two Jedi friends ran, "You'll get what you really deserve, you perverted weasal!"  
  
"Oh, like I haven't heard that one before!" Jirrard called after them while holding the side of his face at the point where Dave kicked him.  
  
Adonna-Lyn looked down where Jirrard grabbed her wrist. Much like water pouring out of a faucet, Adonna-Lyn's skin color was rapidly changing back from red to her normal green. So much for her Mobian disguise...  
  
"We have to get out of here! The Dark Legion's bad enough...but the remnants of the Order of Darkness..." Adonna-Lyn called to Hanako and Dave as they ran to quickly exit the camp.  
  
"I GET IT! I GET IT!" Hanako shouted in reply.  
  
As they ran out of the camp, however, a huge pair of jaws erupted out of the sand and practically surrounded Adonna-Lyn. Rising out of the ground was a long serpentine form with a ten-legged body and a tail ending with several sharp spikes at the end. Dave remembered seeing holograms of Tatooinian creatures like this: A GREATER KRAYT DRAGON!  
  
"Wait a damn minute...the holograms I saw were sure as Hell not ORANGE!" Dave remembered aloud.  
  
"Got that right, yellow boy!" Sleet said as he stepped out from behind the titanic lizard, "It's only Dingo...and my little remote control."  
  
Suddenly, Dingo's now-large mouth was forced upon by the echidna princess. And she was straining herself to keep his jaws open just as she shouted, "Guys, get going! Don't worry about me! Just get to John and warn him! GOOOOOOOOOO!"...just as the jaws snapped shut again.  
  
Dave and Hanako ran like crazy after that. The mooncat looked back as they did and asked, "Master Dave, I don't feel right, leaving Adonna-Lyn to that bloodthirsty bunch."  
  
"Remember what I said about trust?" Dave asked, "I believe that Adonna-Lyn can handle this...and I have a feeling that everything will turn out for the better....hopefully...."  
  
Back in the camp, Dingo fought hard to keep his mouth shut to further ensure Adonna-Lyn's inability to escape. As the Dark Legionares surrounded him, he began to lower his head so that they could capture her.  
  
Adonna-Lyn struggled inside Dingo's mouth, not to get it open or keep herself from being swallowed, but to just maintain her balance in the slippery interior and avoid being chopped to pieces by the large teeth. This was not easy, seeing as she could barely keep a toe's-hold on his long, drool-covered tongue and the roof of his mouth was smooth enough for her not to get a grip on.  
  
As Dingo opened his mouth, Adonna-Lyn leaped out as she had intended...only to be surrounded by hundreds of Dark Legionares! At first, she managed to hold her own, kicking, punching and blasting these hooded hooligans away...but then, almost true to John's training program, several legionares began to spray her with those "glue-guns".  
  
Almost within seconds, the echidna princess was immobilized, her head being the only part of her untouched...except for bits of her dreadlocks that were either caught in the spray or that became stuck as she struggled to break free from the adhesive goop. And then, it began to harden. She couldn't even budge an inch.  
  
Blue Fang shoved and flung many of the Dark Legionares in her path aside as she moved towards the trapped echidna princess. She grinned in satisfaction as Adonna-Lyn angrily glared at her. "Go ahead and hate me, little princess." Adonna-Lyn heard Blue Fang think, "See if I care."  
  
"Imprison her immediately." Blue Fang ordered, "We shall execute her in the late morning, per Dark Legion procedures."  
  
"Excuse me...but I'm in command here..." Kragok huffed.  
  
"And through your command, you let this little fink of royal scum infiltrate this camp and deprive you of the Veripon crystal that I provided to your group as a means to hide you from the rest of Mobius." Screech hissed, "This is a severe lack of responsible leadership!"  
  
Jirrard watched as the Dark Legionares used tasers to stun the echidna princess...until she fell limp and into unconciousness. He snorted as they began to crack the hardened adhesive chemical that trapped her, placed magnetic cuffs around her wrists and ankles, and haul her away to one of their tents. "Even she doesn't deserve this." he thought to himself, "I shall certainly like to have a word with her..."  
  
Mushroom Hill Zone, Floating Island, 11:21 PM...  
  
Dave and Hanako breathed heavily from their escape. As they recovered, he said, "I hope, for her sake, that we can get reinforcements in time before she is executed."  
  
"Reinforcements?!" Hanako gasped, "Are you insane?! That is an army we're facing...even if we convinced John and his little band of ner-do-wells..."  
  
"You're quite right at that. Even with John and the Chaotix, there's no way we could stand a chance at both of these psychotic cults...we're going to need some further outside help." Dave said as he punched a few buttons on his communicator, "Kenny, come in. Come in, Kenny."  
  
"I'm coming! Keep your shir...oh. Hey, Dave! Wassup?" Kenny asked cheerfully, even for this late hour.  
  
"Kenny, I'm calling from the Floating Island. We're going to need reinforcements. Gather what experienced Jedi we have and bring them to the Sandopolis Zone." Dave ordered.  
  
"Why? John and his goofy goon squad not enough for the Dark Legion?" Kenny joked.  
  
"Not funny!" Hanako shouted into the communicator, "The Order of Darkness is in allegience with the Legion...and they've captured Adonna-Lyn! If anything happens to her, it could drive John to destroy the whole island!"  
  
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Knuckles said as he landed behind the mooncat, "This place is the last of Mobius' pristine paradises and home of the Master Emerald. If John thinks of using one of his demonic devices to blow up my home, it will be over MY dead body!"  
  
With that, he punched a tree to his left...unwittingly triggering a trap door!  
  
"Way to go, knuckle-head." Dave said before they dropped down a long chute...  
  
Detrossa, 11:30 PM...  
  
Neon streched her limbs and wings as she yawned. She felt SO tired. But as she turned to make herself comfortable, her eyes beheld a disturbing sight.  
  
Zefer was quietly moving towards Hyro, who had already fallen asleep. Neon watched carefully, not hinting in the least that she was still awake...and watched as Zefer aimed his hand into Hyro's left ear.  
  
Then Zefer made a slight gust of wind blow into Hyro's ear. Hyro awoke with a start, inadvertantly punching Zefer's bottom jaw, frantically asking, "What was that? Who's there?!"  
  
Neon's jaw dropped..."Oh...my..." she began to say, her eyes wide with shock.  
  
"What is it, Neon?" Hyro asked, "Is something wrong?"  
  
"YOU BET YOUR TAIL SOMETHING'S WRONG!!!" Neon angrily screamed, "Zefer is...is..."  
  
"Is what?" Hyro asked, not understanding what she was getting at.  
  
"HE'S INTO GUYS...HE'S GAY!!!" she shouted, pointing at Zefer, "What kind of sick weirdo are you?!"  
  
"Oh, be nice...oops..." Zefer said while making a slight, dismissive hand gesture...before quickly catching himself.  
  
"Alright...that's it!" Neon yelled as she gathered up Caylis, "Point me in the direction of the closest portal back to Mobius!"  
  
The Dark Legion camp, Sandopolis Zone, Floating...ah, you get the idea...11:35 PM...  
  
Jirrard approached the tent where Adonna-Lyn was being held captive. As he was about to enter, two Dark Legionares blocked his path, saying, "Special orders from Blue Fang. No entry until late morning."  
  
The echidna prince grabbed their heads and bashed them together. "That vixen slut can take her orders to Harak'tha for all I care." Jirrard muttered as he entered the tent.  
  
Adonna-Lyn was on her knees, her skin burned a little from where the tasers stun her (which were beginning to heal over slowly). Her wrists and ankles were held together with magnetic manacles and were behind her, her arms and legs looped around the center pole of the tent. Almost as if to mock her, the Dark Legion had placed cushions and elaborate carpets throughout the tent.   
  
She looked up upon hearing Jirrard's footfalls upon the carpeted floor. She frowned at Jirrard and snapped, "I guess you really have a deathwish with Blue Fang. She specifically said NO ENTRY, which also goes for chauvenistic creeps like you!"  
  
Jirrard grinned as he got down to face the echidna princess head on. "To think...all this time and I FINALLY have you where I want you." he chortled, "You know you've been scheduled to be executed tomorrow, late in the morning, per Order of Darkness tradition."  
  
"Tell me something I don't know." Adonna-Lyn huffed.  
  
"The Dark Legion knows of your connection to their little bio-weapon project-gone-awry. They know he'll come for you...so this execution is partially a trap." Jirrard said, "There is a way I could possibley ensure your safety."  
  
"Gee, I can only imagine how..." Adonna-Lyn thought to herself, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Sever your ties to the bounty hunter...and pledge yourself to me...as my queen!" Jirrard said while holding his scimitar to Adonna-Lyn's neck, "And I won't except 'no' for an answer."  
  
"Too bad...because that's the only answer you'll get from me! I'd think that, after all this time, the very notion that I'll never love or see you as my mate would sink in to your thick skull!" she shouted, "I would just as soon throw myself to a pack of starved Taekwraiths than even consider a lifetime with you!"  
  
Jirrard held Adonna-Lyn's chin in one hand for a moment...then slapped her hard with the other. "You will consider a lifetime with me...seeing as you are going to be cast into the Quick Sea before the Dark Legion mounts its attack upon the Floating Island." he snarled.  
  
"You bring doom upon yourself, Jirrard...for the Quick Sea shall be your grave!" Adonna-Lyn snapped, "And John shall be the one to put you into it!"  
  
Jirrard, with no better way to vent his frustration, kicked Adonna-Lyn's bare belly, knocking the wind out of her. "You will be mine, Adonna-Lyn. You WILL be mine before the sun sets tomorrow!!!" he snarled at her as he left the tent.  
  
As the echidna princess recovered from the kick, she wept. Even though she knew John would come for her, she felt sorry that she would place her beloved husband in danger like this....  
  
As Jirrard fumed out of the tent, he heard a male voice say, "I take it your visit with the princess didn't go too well." The treacherous echidna prince turned around quickly to find Magmus standing there.  
  
"And what business is it of yours that you must spy on me?!" Jirrard growled.  
  
"Not so much spy on you...but to watch out for you." Magmus stated.  
  
"Huh?" Jirrard grunted, not understanding what Magmus was getting at.  
  
The black Detrossian then said, "Let me put it to you this way, slick: We both have received a harsh visit from a kitsune and a tanuki dressed up like ninjas, have we not?"  
  
"YOU, TOO?!" Jirrard gasped.  
  
"Yes, and I was nearly frozen to death by their...persuasive measures." Magmus growled, "To my point...let's kill these O.o.D. losers! Together, we are more powerful than they are."  
  
"You're proposing an alliance between the two of us, I take it." Jirrard said while rubbing his chin, "What's in it for the both of us?"  
  
"Quite simple, really...we kill the Enforcer, then Blue Fang and the others...you keep that spitfire princess...and I shall keep the princess' hench-wench Neela. You go back and rule Chandral, I shall rule the galaxy and leave Chandral alone. Do we have a deal?" Magmus asked while holding out his hand.  
  
Jirrard grinned at the Detrossian's proposal and shook his hand, saying, "We have a deal."  
  
"What you two have is a deathwish!" Lady Screech hissed as she stepped out of the shadows, "Blue Fang will certainly want to know what plots you two are scheming!"  
  
But before the vampire bat sorceress got far, Magmus chanted a few incantation-type words, summoning dark energies to his hands. He then thrusted his hands forward, unleashing the energies while shouting, "DARK CHAIN!"  
  
Screech immediately felt the dark energy surrounding her, binding her legs together and her arms and wings against the sides of her body. Before she even let loose with a loud scream, the dark chain wrapped around her mouth and closed it tight.  
  
"I think you've been making enough noise for one night." Jirrard chuckled as he then stabbed Screech with the spur on his left wrist.  
  
"Now, what to do with her?" Magmus asked while standing over Screech's unconcious body, "My Dark Chain spell will only take effect at night. Otherwise, she's as free as a bird...bat...oh, you know what I mean!"  
  
Jirrard grinned and said, "Leave that to me."  
  
Magmus watched on as Jirrard made part of the desert ground envelope Screech, leaving only her head exposed. Jirrard then made Screech surge through the desert sands until she was away from the encampment and out of sight.  
  
"How did you do that?" Magmus asked.  
  
Jirrard glimpsed towards the prison tent where Adonna-Lyn was, then said, "That's for me to know...and for the Enforcer to DIE FROM!"  
  
FICC, 11:48 PM...  
  
John shook his head. This was way too much to take in. A crystal that could block out any or all detection, Adonna-Lyn in the Dark Legion's clutches...and now, that lunkhead Knuckles was down here in HIS home!  
  
"Quite a nice set-up you have here, tech-rat!" Knuckles said, his eyes focused hard on the source of his yet-to-be-released fury, "All this wretched technology right here under my very nose...and I suppose you were going to invite some of your OTHER buddies here."  
  
"If you mean that verminous cult of ner-do-wells, I would just as soon exterminate them as see them!" John snapped, "They may have created me, but that doesn't me I owe them anything!"  
  
"If you two would calm down, you might learn to focus on the main point here. Your common enemies are about to mount an attack upon this island...and all of Mobius." Dave grimly interjected, "By turning on each other, you'll be doing the worst thing possible: removing the main two obstacles that know this island better than they do."  
  
John and Knuckles glared at each other, then looked away shamefully, seeing the wise truth in the Gold Jedi's words.   
  
"How soon will your reinforcements arrive, Dave?" John asked.  
  
"They should arrive by tomorrow morning...a bit late in the morning." Dave answered truthfully.  
  
"Good. If those Dark Legion bozos remain true to their procedures (namely, executing the guilty during the later parts of the morning), I'll still have a chance to save Adonna-Lyn." John calculated aloud.  
  
"Takes a tech-rat to know the rest of his kind, eh, John?" Knuckles snidely commented...just as a dimensional portal opened up in the celing...with Neon Dragon and Caylis dropping out of it and onto Knuckles.  
  
"Neon?!" John gasped in surprise.  
  
Vector, upon seeing the Detrossian, cried out, "Neon, babe! It's good to see ya..." just as he got punched in the face by Neon.  
  
She smiled and said, "Man it's good to be home. So, what did I miss?"  
  
"The Dark Legion is going to war with Mobius...but we have a chance to stop it!" John said, "Vector, Espio, Mighty, Neela, Heavy, Bomb, Dave, Hanako; you're all coming with me. Charmy, you're in charge here in case they decide to get into FICC."  
  
"You can count on me to keep it legionare-free." Charmy said with a salute.  
  
Neon then asked, "You're not going to leave me out of this, are you?"  
  
John smiled and said, "Of course not. I'm going to need every available Chaotix member to take the Dark Legion...and welcome back, Neon. The place just wasn't the same without you."  
  
John turned to Knuckles and said, "Knux, this might be a first, but I'll need your help as well. I need you to go to Echidnopolis and warn every citizen there to take cover or arm themselves in case we fail."  
  
"And how, pray tell, will I know if you and your goon squad fail?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"When you start seein' echidnas in black robes running around." Vector replied.  
  
"We'll move out early, tomorrow morning. Dave, I might just need that crystal that Adonna-Lyn found. It just might be of use to me in this endevour." John planned.  
  
The next day, Dark Legion Camp, 10:56 AM...  
  
Adonna-Lyn woke up slightly to the sounds of the Dark Legion getting ready for their assualt on the Floating Island. She shook her head. She knew John would be coming for her...but he'd be walking right into a trap. And it would be all her fault.  
  
Suddenly, Jirrard walked in. His look was grave. "I tried to talk Blue Fang and these Mobian bozos out of it, but they're still going to execute you. Apparently, they felt that you being separated from that bounty hunter scum wasn't enough." he said.  
  
"Well, it's obvious you're not here to give me a kiss goodbye." Adonna-Lyn said.  
  
"No. I'm here to give you your last chance to be mine willingly." Jirrard said, getting close to kissing her anyway.  
  
Adonna-Lyn angrily spat in his face.  
  
"Well, your hubby will be coming to save you, as I know he will." Jirrard hissed as he wiped her spit off of him, "You had your chance to join me willingly, Adonna-Lyn. Once I defeat him, you will be mine, either as my queen...or as my slave!"  
  
"Don't count on it, Jirrard!" Adonna-Lyn snapped as the echidna prince stormed out again.  
  
Magmus was at the doors of the tent, smirking a little. Jirrard furiously turned and growled, "NOT A WORD OUT OF YOU!!!"  
  
Adonna-Lyn fumed a bit, still angered by Jirrard's words, said a few curse words in her native tongue...just as a pair of Dark Legionares entered, saying, "It is time, 'your Highness'."  
  
Adonna-Lyn was led to what looked like a high-tech, overgrown crossbow...aimed right into the Quick Sea. Her captors shoved her towards it, despite the chains, manacles around her wrists and ankles...and the heavy iron ball the chains were attatched to.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Heavy and Bomb heading towards the Speed-Chaser missle-launcher..."Keep moving, you!" a legionare behind her said, shoving her hard.  
  
Blue Fang looked around. Where was Lady Screech? Her Dark Sister should be here to see this. That ridiculous prophecy would never come to fruition now with the echidna princess being killed...  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted as Kragok announced, "Today, we shall fulfill the ideals of our founder, the great Lord Demitri. Today, we shall take back our home, the Floating Island!"  
  
The loud cheers and yells drowned out Adonna-Lyn's thoughts.  
  
"Before we begin our campaign of conquest upon the world of Mobius, we shall fling this guilty being into the Quick Sea." Kragok stated as the echidna princess was loaded into the crossbow, "Princess Adonna-Lyn of neighboring world Chandral, you stand accused of espionage and disruption to the operations of the Dark Legion and you have been sentenced to death. Have you any last words?"  
  
"Yes, I have some last words." the echidna princess said, "Siding with Blue Fang and her group? What the harak'tha were you thinking? She's an echidna-hater and she'll kill you and your followers once everything's gone your way."  
  
"JUST SHOOT HER AND GET IT OVER WITH!!!" Blue Fang yelled.  
  
With that, the echidna princess was flung into the air.  
  
Blue Fang, Sleet, and Dingo watched eagerly as Adonna-Lyn began her unwilling descent into the Quick Sea...  
  
KLAAAANG!  
  
Blue Fang looked on in surprise. The metal ball Adonna-Lyn was chained to was bashed to bits upon impact with something ...invisible...and the echidna princess was still alive!  
  
"Now, Bomb!" she heard a robotic voice shout...just as the lone Speed Chaser missle-launcher exploded! The nearest legionares were killed instantly, others knocked to the ground from the explosion's shockwave!  
  
The ShadowHunter, John's signature ship, de-cloaked.  
  
"THE ENFORCER! OPEN FIRE!" Kragok ordered.  
  
The Dark Legion launched practically everything they had at the dark ship...but after their fire had ceased, they almost gasped in unison upon finding that the ShadowHunter had not even take so much as pin-prick's worth of damage!  
  
"Don't you have an ion cannon or something?" Sleet yelled at Kragok.  
  
"Uh...no...." Kragok replied shakingly...as the ShadowHunter returned fire!  
  
On board the ShadowHunter, Adonna-Lyn was pulled in before the Dark Legion launched their onslaught. She looked up and saw John. She then jumped up and hugged him, saying, "John! Boy, am I glad to see you!"  
  
"Adon...when we get back home, you and I are going to have a very long talk indeed." John said.  
  
"John, I did this for you! You know I can't bare to think of my life without you." she said, "You think I'd let them take you away and do unspeakable things to you?!"  
  
Several blasts rocked the ship! Fortunately, the Ditanium-Alloy hull held back the blasts. "What a shock it will be to them when they find the ship unharmed." she heard John...no, the Enforcer think.   
  
"Vector, bring us about and head towards them. Mighty, Espio, Neon, man the guns! We're gonna mow them down and ram this ship right down their throats!" John ordered over an intercom.  
  
Neon got into one of the gunnery chairs, her hands gripping the controls eagerly. "Been a long time these hands have seen some action of this sort." she said to herself with a smile, "Alright, you creeps! Come get some!"  
  
Kragok immediately called for a full retreat upon seeing what he and his troops were up against. He was lucky that he tripped and fell under the ShadowHunter as it quickly hovered above the ground. As he looked up, the Enforcer's ship was slaughtering his followers.  
  
Sleet, however, grinned as he got on a communicator and said, "NOW, DINGO!"  
  
"Right...uh, what was I supposed to do?" Dingo asked.  
  
"Fire up the Crimson Howl's ion cannon and shut him down!" Sleet snapped.  
  
"Oh, right. That...uh...which button's for the ion cannon?" Dingo asked.  
  
"It's the blue one next to the self-destruct, you bonehead!" Sleet said through his clenched teeth.  
  
"Oh...why do we have a self-destruct button?" Dingo asked.  
  
Sleet, quickly losing what patience he had left, yelled, "JUST FIRE THE DAMN ION CANNON, YOU DIM-BULB!"  
  
The tip of their scorpian-shaped ship rotated between its weapons until a tube-like cannon appeared and fired several bursts of the electro-magnetic energy. The first three shots missed completely...but the last two didn't!  
  
"What the hell?!" John shouted out loud.   
  
"Ion cannon fire, boss-..." Vector reported before the electro-magnetic energy shut down every electrical system on the ship.  
  
John quickly ordered, "Everyone, brace for impact!"  
  
His calls were quickly answered with a unanimous "Oh, shit!"  
  
The ship shuddered as it began to grind along the sandy dunes...and finally came to a halt.  
  
"Uhhhh, damage report." John requested.  
  
"Well, our electrical systems aboard the ship has been knocked out, so I can't really give much of a damage report." Vector said as he approached the others gathering near John.  
  
"Great...this has happened before. It will take 2 hours before the Chaos Emerald overcomes the ion cannon fire..." John explained.  
  
"TWO HOURS?!" Espio exclaimed, "Those megalomaniacs will be all over us in seconds!"  
  
"I know. Well, we can't fight em' in here. We're going out." John said.  
  
But before John even opened the airlock, he heard a sound...rather the sounds of lightsabers being ignited.  
  
"Attention, members of both the Dark Legion and the Order of Darkness! I am Jedi Knight Kenny." Dave heard Kenny announce, "You all stand accused of terrorism against the good peoples of Mobius. Surrender now and we will ensure that you are treated fairly. But if you fight us, we will bring swift justice." With the vampire bat Jedi knight was a number of 50 Jedi.  
  
John heard the thoughts of his enemies: "Jedi?! Who brought them here? That scrap of a boy Knuckles?!", " 'Who needs an army when you have a Jedi', they say. Blind me, we're done for!" "First the Guardians, then Project Dark Guardian...and now THIS!" "Miserable Jedi heretics! We greatly outnumber them. We can take them down!" "Wonder what Sleet had in the oven the other night..."  
  
"DARK LEGION! OPEN FIRE ON THE JEDI! SHOW THEM NO MERCY, FOR THEY SHALL SHOW NONE!" Kragok ordered loudly.  
  
Laser blasts were heard...as well as the sound of those very same blasts being reflected back at their attackers.  
  
"Well, are we just going to sit out the battle? Let's get out there and aid the Jedi!" Adonna-Lyn said.  
  
"You have done enough, Adon. I suggest you get some rest in here." John said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "A rested body and mind can win this battle, not a tired one."  
  
Adonna-Lyn shoved his hand off, saying, "Don't you tell me what to do. You can't just coop me up somewhere like a caged bird! My father trained me to fight, so I'm not going to let that training go to waste!"  
  
John thought about her words. All this time, he only meant to keep her safe...but he didn't honestly think he was restricting her. "Adon, I'm sorry if I have treated you this way, but I only meant well. I wanted to protect you because I love you too much to lose you. You mean so much to me." he said.  
  
"Well, if you love me that much, you should atleast let me fight on your behalf." she stated, "We can take these scumbags down, together."  
  
"Right." John said with renewed determination as he gripped her hand, "Together!"  
  
With that, he went for the airlock and opened it, igniting his lightsaber in the process...  
  
The battle was fierce as lasers, missles, and limbs flew about the battlefield. John's friends held their own sufficiently in the battle.  
  
Vector blasted at the Dark Legionares with his tuned-up headset, its soundwaves throwing their hooded heads together.  
  
Espio's disappearing tricks threw legionares for a loop as he appeared for one moment...only to disappear the next.  
  
Mighty's prodigious strength tossed the Legion's tanks left and right as if they were nothing.  
  
Neon used her pyrokinetic skills, setting the Legion's own mechanical army of robots ablaze and melting.  
  
Neela skillfully blocked lasers and sliced at the Legion's weapons. John smiled. His training of her was certainly paying off.  
  
Dave and Hanako held their own, facing off to the Dark Legion's weapons...wait...where was the Order of Darkness?  
  
His mental question was quickly answered as Lady Screech emerged from the sandy ground and tackled him to the ground. In fact, her fellow members leaped out of the sand and began their own assualts against John's friends.  
  
Magmus generated a barrier that spread quickly like an ocean wave, pushing the Mobian Jedi Knights out of the battle!  
  
Blue Fang fired several of her long nails like spears and killed several of the unsuspecting Mobian Jedi.  
  
Sleet and Dingo shot at any Jedi who were still trying to block blasts from the Dark Legion.  
  
Jirrard, not surpisingly, went after Adonna-Lyn.  
  
Dave stood with the other Jedi, aiding them in staying alive. It hurt him that many of these Jedi, many he had trained, were being cut down by these vile murderers. Now, there was this barrier that was keeping him and his remaining Jedi out of the battle, leaving John and his friends alone to face this gruesome hoard...and a possibley gruesome fate.  
  
As Screech pinned him to the ground and tried to bite at his neck, John's eyes began to glow as he focused his psychic facilities and threw the vampire bat sorceress off of him!  
  
John drew his double-bladed lightsaber and ignited both blades. Screech got up onto her tri-clawed feet and unsheathed her own sword, shaped much like her species' wings and made of the same dark metal as her current opponent's armor. She let out a loud scream as she charged at John, hoping it would lower his defenses sufficiently so that she could slice off his head.  
  
John, however, got his defense up immediately and fought with Screech. Both of their blades clashed repeatedly until John managed to smack her sword down and lay a hard punch across her fanged face. He was certainly not going to have himself drained dry by this vampire bat.  
  
His punch worked pretty well, for Screech did not immediately get back up. With the bat bitch out of conciousness, he ran to help his friends. Unfortunately, his friends weren't faring too well.  
  
Sleet and Espio were getting into a slugfest...but Sleet was watching the chaemeleon's foot tracks in the sand and was using that to triangulate the position of Espio's head!  
  
Dingo had Mighty in a headlock...and since the armadillo's armor was on his back and not his front, there was very little he could do to. He was being strangled to the point where he couldn't even try to force the Luperian hyena's arms off.  
  
Neon was trying to go after Magmus and strangle the lousy bastard for treating her the way he did before she left for her homeworld with Hyro. But as she got within 2 feet of him, she felt like she hit an electric barrier and got sent back sprawling on the ground.  
  
Vector kept slapping Dark Legionares upside the head with his tail and biting heads off...but then he got overwhelmed like army ants over a slow animal.  
  
Blue Fang and Neela were squaring off with each other, exchanging blasts of energy at each other, with Blue Fang launching them and Neela batting them back with her De'kar Stick.  
  
Adonna-Lyn was slinging blast after psychic blast at Jirrard...only to find he was deflecting them with collums of sand that kept popping out of the ground in front of him. Getting a little cheesed off, she charged forward...just as a huge hand made of (you guessed it) sand erupted and gripped her body hard! Her arms, head, and legs were the only parts showing out of the hand.  
  
John immediately ran after Jirrard, his lightsaber activated. He had finally had enough of the brown-skinned little prick, the way he would hound Adonna-Lyn's every bare footstep in every single battle that the echidna prince was in. "Jirrard, prepare to meet your maker...in HELL!" John yelled as he charged and brought his lightsaber down on Jirrard.  
  
However, when John brought the invincible blade of light down, he found that sand, not blood, but sand was flowing from the wound. Then, Jirrard collapsed completely into a pile of sand...just as Jirrard emerged slowly behind him and backhanded John with the hilt of his scimitar.  
  
John did a roll, and they both slashed and blocked each other. John growled, "Chauvenistic asshole! I swear, you won't give up going after her until you're dead!"  
  
"Atleast until you're dead, maybe...because then, with no one else to claim her but me..." Jirrard taunted,...until everything froze around John, Blue Fang and their followers. Vector was practically in a web of frozen Legionares.  
  
"LOOK! Not that I really bloody CARE which one of you gets the little royal brat...but this ridiculous feud is getting on every last one of my nerves...AND THAT'S NOT A WHOLE LOT OF NERVES!" Blue Fang said, "There's only one way this whole stupid thing is going to be settled: THE JURAK-TRAL!"  
  
Jirrard grinned at John, then began drawing a circle in the sand large enough for two Hutts to sit in there and not cross the line.  
  
John turned to Adonna-Lyn and asked, "Adon, what's going on? What is this...what did Blue Fang call it...the Jurassic Trial?  
  
"The Jurak-Tral, John, is basically a deathmatch, winner-takes-all, between two males or females over their lover." Adonna-Lyn replied whilst still trying to get out of the sand-hand's grip, "If you fall completely out of the circle or choose to quit the match, you automatically lose and your fate is decided by the victor...so do us both a favor and don't los...MPH!" One of the fingers of the hand covered her mouth!  
  
"That's enough out of you, my fair young slave..." Jirrard teased.  
  
John let out a beastial growl and stepped into the circle.  
  
Blue Fang announced, "Standard rules to the Jurak-Tral: No sissy mind trick or telepathy crap. Purely offensive powers like telekinesis and your weird psychic blast stuff only. Each opponent is allowed one...you both got that?...ONE weapon. And no Force powers...that especially goes for YOU, SITH BOY!"  
  
"Sith boy?" John asked, confused. Still, he tossed aside his blaster pistol and brought up his lightsaber.  
  
"Wait a minute!" Jirrard shouted, "That thing has two blades...to my one sword!"  
  
"Oh, don't be such a big baby!" the Enforcer snapped, "It's bad enough when I have to put up with ONE crybaby!"  
  
"Who're you callin' a crybaby, war monger?!" John said.  
  
Jirrard and Blue Fang stared on, wondering what the hell just happened.  
  
John shook his head and said, "Well, are we going to this over with or not?"  
  
Jirrard grinned. This blue fool would not stand a chance...not with his recently acquired powers.  
  
"Jurak-Tral...THRAJ!" Blue Fang shouted, obviously announcing the beginning of this soon to be gruesome contest.  
  
"Good luck, my beloved." Adonna-Lyn telepathically wished to her husband.  
  
They both began the fight with a loud yell of rage and charged at each other, their blades clashing. John spun his lightsaber furiously in his hands, creating a virtually deadly lightshow for the echidna prince. Jirrard backed off a moment and fired off several small, but explosive, bursts of psychic bursts.  
  
John managed to block many of the bursts...but it was only a distraction, for Jirrard then fired a powerful psychic beam that grazed John's side. The echidna bounty hunter let out a shout of pain and clutched the point of impact, his dark green blood pouring out.  
  
But before Jirrard had a chance to cut off his adversary's head, John aimed his hand at the treachorous echidna monarch, and telekinetically pushed him onto his back and his scimitar out of his reach. With that, John rehealed himself and charged at Jirrard, aiming his lightsaber's blade at the echidna prince's throat.  
  
"Wait! Wait!" Jirrard whimpered, "Mercy, I beg of you, mercy!"  
  
John seethed with anger. "I'll show you mercy...the same mercy you and your O.o.D friends have showed mine!" he growled as he prepared to separate Jirrard's head from the rest of his body.  
  
But, in that moment, John looked at his reflection in Jirrard's terrified eyes. For the first time in his life, he was coming to grips with how far he had strayed down the path to the Dark Side of the Force. Just seeing his eyes shadowed by a great darkness, his face contorted with rage and anger...  
  
With a slight frown, he telekinetically brought Jirrard's scimitar into his hands and aimed the handle down to his opponent. Jirrard looked up and asked, "What are you doing? You could have finished me off."  
  
"But that would have been lacking in honor, Jirrard." John replied while still holding the handle out, "I won't kill you while you're on your back instead of on your feet, like the way it should be. So take your weapon and let us finish this with a warrior's honor."  
  
Jirrard took his sword...but slashed at John's wrist with his fist claws! "Idiot! I don't share your stupid sense of honor!" Jirrard laughed as he did a back-flip and landed on his feet.  
  
"Then you are without honor!" John roared angrily, almost completely forgetting his moment of regretting his actions.  
  
The two echidnas went at each other like starved beasts...Jirrard even bit John's right arm! John roared in his full fury and kicked Jirrard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him...then delivering a hard punch to Jirrard's face. Even for the few minutes that they were fighting, the ground was beginning to get stained with their blood.  
  
Jirrard then noticed how close John was to the edge of the circle...then used a kick to return the favor of having the wind knocked out of him, then used a telekinetic push to shove John out of the circle.  
  
"No...." Adonna-Lyn gasped.  
  
"YES! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!" Jirrard laughed triumphantly, holding his sword aloft.  
  
"Per Jurak-Tral tradition, John Enforcer, your fate is in Jirrard's hands." Blue Fang said.  
  
Jirrard looked at the Dark Legion and smirked wickedly. "First off, I'll let the Dark Legion collect the DNA they want." he said.  
  
Several legionares held John down and jabbed him with several needles, drawing his blood. John writhed in agony. One legionare even came forward with a hand-held computer.  
  
"Uh...what is that for?" Jirrard asked.  
  
"We'll need to copy information from him. Battle tactics, hand-to-hand and weapons training, everything necessary for the continuation of Project Dark Guardian." Kragok said.  
  
Jirrard, after a moment's deliberation, said, "Do it."  
  
The Dark Legionares pulled out the input/output jack in the back of John's neck and connected it to the small computer. John's silvery-blue eyes rolled back into their sockets...  
  
Inside of John's mind...  
  
"A download, eh?" the Enforcer hissed gleefully, "This is an exellent opportunity."  
  
"An opportunity for what, monster?" John asked.  
  
The armored demon gripped John by the neck and said, "An opportunity to get rid of you, that's what!" He then threw John's better half to the ground.  
  
"So this is what it all comes down to?" John asked, whimpering, "You realize that if you get rid of me, this frame won't efficiently run?"  
  
"What?" the Enforcer posed.  
  
"Think of it...you constantly integrate yourself with me in order to take over my actions...without me, you can't function properly!" John explained.  
  
The Enforcer growled through a mouth of needle-like (and sharp) teeth. For once, the sentimental little whelp was right. He then looked at the glowing portal that was beginning to appear...the downloading had begun.  
  
"Why feud over a body with an extra pest when you could command your own body?" John posed.  
  
"So...that's what it comes down to. You're trying to get rid of me!" the Enforcer roared while hitting John repeatedly with his mechanical dreadlocks, "If it weren't for me, there would be nothing left of this vessal but a dried up skeleton on some backwater planet! WE SURVIVED BECAUSE OF ME!"  
  
"Not anymore..." John said as he angrily stood up against the mechanical demon, "I have my friends...my wife...they would give their lives willingly for me just as I would for them....I don't need you anymore."  
  
"What?" the Enforcer hissed.  
  
"Go away and never return." John said quietly, slowly gaining courage.  
  
The Enforcer growled angrily.  
  
"Go away and never return!" John shouted, backing the Enforcer towards the download portal.  
  
The Enforcer roared in all his fury at John's rebuke.  
  
"GO AWAY AND NEVER RETURN!!!" John said as he Force pushed his darker half into the portal, cringing to the ground at the cruel roar left behind.  
  
John rose up for a moment...and laughed hysterically, "He's gone...HE'S GONE! I DID IT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"  
  
Outside...  
  
"Download complete, Lord Kragok." the legionare with the computer said.  
  
"Good. You bozos got what you want. Now get lost." Jirrard said.  
  
Kragok, realizing the numbers of soldiers here were too few to mount a full-scale war upon the Floating Island, opened a dimensional portal and announced, "Dark Legion, we're falling back. We shall return to conquer Mobius another day!"  
  
As the Dark Legion departed, Jirrard turned to John and said, "And now, to deal with you...what would be a suitable fate..." He then glanced towards the Quick Sea...and grinned back to John.  
  
John, realizing what Jirrard hand in mind, said, "Promise me one thing, Jirrard...that you'll treat her the way I would. Promise me!"  
  
"Very well." Jirrard said as he telekinetically launched the blue echidna into the Quick Seas,..."Oh, silly me. It completely slipped my mind...I forgot to ask about HOW you treat her. THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM, IS IT?"  
  
"Wha...Jirrard, you sick bastard! Curse your miserable soul to Hell!" John shouted at him...just as he felt himself being shoved into the Quick Sea from above by an invisible hand.  
  
"If it's one thing I absolutely cannot stand, it's a sore loser." Jirrard muttered to himself, "And now, to the victor goes the spoils."  
  
"If you lay so much as one finger one me, Jirrard, I'll..." Adonna-Lyn threatened as the giant hand began bringing her to him. The hand threw her down before Jirrard and disintegrated into a pair of piles of sand that enveloped her hands and held her down.  
  
"Excellent work, Jirrard!" Blue Fang cheered, "I didn't think you had it in you...and now, to conclude our bloody business." The vixen enchantress then had her right index finger's nail extend until it was a sharp blade.  
  
Jirrard immediately knew what Blue Fang was up to and fired a psychic blast at the vixen's feet. She halted her advance towards Adonna-Lyn and growled, "So...you're still having your wasted little thoughts that she'll be yours, eh?"   
  
"She IS mine!" Jirrard snapped, "By royal rights, she is mine! Besides, without that bounty hunter, the stupid prophecy will never come to fruition!"  
  
"Do you honestly think I'm going to let her get off scot-free?" Blue Fang hissed, "After what her father did to my beloved Tarkhalius?! I want her to die at my hands...and if necessary, I'll step over your CORPSE to get at her!"  
  
"Go ahead, bitch. Make my day." Jirrard growled, bringing his scimitar up.  
  
"And mine as well." Magmus said while bringing his sword out and pointing it at the small in her back.  
  
"Et tu, Magmus?" Blue Fang snarled.  
  
"Well, I don't like the idea of beings being killed off...I mean, how do you expect to lord over dead people?" Magmus taunted, "Now, if you would just get down on the ground...before I run you through."  
  
As Blue Fang complied, however, Jirrard hit her in the head with the hilt of his sword. "Better than to take an uncessary risk." he said to Magmus.  
  
Screech awoke from the unconcious state John bestowed on her a while ago, saw what the two traitors were doing to her Dark Sister and prepared to launch another of her vocal assualts...this time, it would rip the traitors to pieces!  
  
Jirrard, however, sensed what Screech was about to do, for then he grabbed a hand full of sand and flung it at the vampire bat sorceress. The sand hit her in the face and and covered her head.  
  
Before Sleet and Dingo did anything, they received a harsh look from both Magmus and Jirrard, and backed down.  
  
Neela, knowing now of Jirrard's power over the sands, held her De'kar stick harder. She would not lose her weapon so easily to these pieces of scum.  
  
"Ah, yes...Neela." Magmus said upon seeing her, "Come to me, my little veil-wearer."  
  
"Not a chance." she said...just as the sand shifted around her slippered feet and wrapped around them. She let out a slight yelp as she was tripped up and was dragged across the desert ground towards her tormentors.  
  
"Leave her alone!" Mighty yelled as he raced after her...just as a solid wall of sand came up in front of him. When he punched it, he recoiled...it felt like punching John's armor! Not to give up, he repeatedly pounded on this seemingly weak wall.  
  
Espio, Vector and Heavy ran over to join Mighty in his desparate moment...just as they were whacked hard by several tentacles made up of the desert sand.   
  
Neon ordered Mighty to stand back. She then focused her pyrokinetic abilities on the wall of sand and let loose.  
  
"HA! You fool!" Mamgus laughed as the sand melted into glass, "You've only created a viewing glass for your super-strong, simple-minded simpleton!"  
  
"Have I?" Neon said nonchalantly, "It occured to me that as long as it was just sand, Mighty would keep punching a reforming wall. But, as it is now glass, it is more breakable."  
  
With that, Mighty proved Neon's point by curling up into an armored ball and bashed through the glass, spin-dashing into Magmus before he even laid a fingertip upon Neela.  
  
Jirrard then looked at Neela and said, "You know what, Magmus...I'm reconsidering our allegience. You get the rest of the galaxy, I get both Adonna-Lyn, Neela, and rule over Chandral."  
  
"Wha...why, you back-stabbing..." Magmus growled.  
  
"I learn from the best." Jirrard said as he then grabbed Neela by her dark red hair and pulled her up and away from the black Detrossian.  
  
Suddenly, something erupted out of the Quick Sea!  
  
Jirrard turned around and fearfully said, "No...NO! It can't be! You're dead! You're supposed to be dead!"  
  
"Two things, Jirrard." John said as he hovered down to far firmer ground, "One, we Mobian echidnas are expert diggers, even in that soup...and two, this Jurak-Tral thing is a Chandralite tradition, right?"  
  
He then landed and said, "But we're not on Chandral...ARE WE?"  
  
"Shriur-kackt!" Jirrard cursed, "I hoped you wouldn't have realized that."  
  
"Too bad for you." John said...as he put his hands to his head, focusing his powers.  
  
"What is he doing?" Magmus asked as John began to hover above the ground.  
  
"He's preparing to do that Mental Lightning Attack." Jirrard gasped.  
  
"And what does that mean?" Rieko asked.  
  
"It means...RUN LIKE YOU'VE NEVER RUN BEFORE!!!" Jirrard shouted.  
  
Mighty, upon seeing John preparing for his ultimate attack, grabbed Neela by the wrist and ran for cover.  
  
Vector, upon seeing John hovering above the ground in a horrifyingly familiar fashion, cried out, "Chaotix and present company...FIRE IN THE HOLE!"  
  
But before Jirrard ran, he grabbed ahold of Adonna-Lyn and began to pull her, with her in front of him.  
  
"What are you doing!? Unhand me!" Adonna-Lyn said as she tried to wrest herself from Jirrard's grip...just as John unleashed his powerful attack!  
  
Powerful bolts of synaptic energy filled the air. Magmus tried to take to the air and fly out of harm's way...only to have one of the bolts strike him head-on and knock him to the ground! Rieko, being with Magmus at the time, was shocked senseless by the ensuing bolts.  
  
After a few more terrifying moments, John dropped down to the ground, pale and weak. "Armor: chestplate...on...now..." John commanded through his exhausted wheezing.  
  
The chestplate of his armor came on and brought the red Chaos Emerald that powered it into his figertips' reach. As he touched it, he could feel the infinte energies of the emerald flowing into his body, rejuvenating him. He let out several breaths before he finally got up and surveyed the damage he had caused.  
  
Where his synaptic bolts had touched the sand, there were now shards of glass. Blue Fang, Magmus, Screech were hit by the bolts...his heart stopped. Down on the ground, a major scorch mark on her bare belly, was Adonna-Lyn!  
  
He ran over to her and felt for any signs of life. No heartbeat...no pulse...nothing. "No....God, no!" John whimpered, "Don't do this to me, Adon. Please...give me a sign....anything...please..."  
  
He thought Adonna-Lyn would be smarter than that, to quickly get out of there when he was preparing the MLA...until he noticed marks of hands around her wrists...Jirrard's hands. He looked further and found the treacherous echidna prince a few feet away, a bit shocked and knocked out. He used Adonna-Lyn as a shield!  
  
"Damn you, Jirrard..." John cursed...before tearfully adding, "And...damn me, too." With that, he held Adonna-Lyn's limp body close to his chest, his tears falling upon her...  
  
Jirrard got up after shaking his dreadlocked head. "What a punch that was." he thought as he got up. He heard someone crying. He looked and saw John in his sorrowful embrace with his apparently dead wife.  
  
He carefully approached the backside of the crying bounty hunter, drawing his scimitar. If Adonna-Lyn was dead, as she now appeared to be, then atleast she served Jirrard for something, even if unwillingly.  
  
"Atleast I'll have my revenge on you, bounty hunter...you mercenary scum aren't so tough." he thought gleefully as he raised his sword high.  
  
John, however, caught the reflection of Jirrard behind him in Adonna-Lyn's (suprisingly) untouched crown. He angrily grabbed his lightsaber, spun around at an incalcuable speed, and made a diagonal slice through Jirrard!!!  
  
The echidna prince gasped, his eyes wide with shock. He dropped his sword, the handle sticking out in the air. He stumbled back...as his upper half fell off and into the Quick Sea. In his last moments, dark green blood pouring out of his mouth like a foul river, he said his final words: "Kortess...Chee noff ke' chochfen. (TRANSLATION: Perhaps...I could be mistaken.)" With that, the wretched prince sank out of sight.  
  
John deactivated his lightsaber...just as he heard someone softly calling his name. He turned around...and saw Adonna-Lyn looking up at him, extending her hand. SHE WAS STILL ALIVE!  
  
He ran towards her and fiercely embraced her, crying, "Thank every worshipped deity in the galaxy, you're alive!"  
  
"Not for long, she is." Blue Fang said as she began summon a deadly spell...only to have a fist-sized chunk of glass hurled at her head.  
  
"Awe, shut up, psycho bitch!" Vector shouted.  
  
Blue Fang growled...just as another chunk of glass hit her in the face...and cut her. "You...you morons cut me!" Blue Fang hissed.  
  
"It's less than what you truly deserve, madame." Heavy stated.  
  
"Where is that traitorous buffoon Jirrard?" Screech asked.  
  
"He's dead." Magmus gasped, seeing the last bit of the echidna prince's dark green blood. He knew now that he failed to protect Jirrard...and possibley, his life was now forfeit.  
  
"Well, good riddance to bad rubbish." Blue Fang remarked as she drew out a vial containing a teleport potion.  
  
"OOH! OOH! Let me try one, Blue Fang! Can I, huh? Huh? Can I, huh?!" Dingo cried out excitedly.  
  
Blue Fang rolled her blood-red eyes and said, "Oh, very well. Pick one." while opening her coat and revealing the number of vials she had.  
  
"ALRIGHT!" Dingo said as he reached into her long coat and pulled out a swirling, purple potion, "Ooh, pretty!"  
  
The vixen enchantress' eyes went wide. She shouted, "NO! NOT THAT ONE, YOU IMBECILE! GIVE IT BACK!"  
  
"Oh no, you don't! It's mine!" Dingo said as he slammed it to a shard of glass (a result of Neon's fire-blasting the sand wall earlier) and it broke open, releasing a large cloud of purple smoke.  
  
"You OAF!" Magmus shouted...as the cloud touched his ankles. He suddenly felt something trying to hold him in place. With that, he ran (with some difficulty) towards Dingo to strangle him.  
  
John and his friends as the purple cloud spread to Blue Fang's group. A slight sparkle on the ground alerted John to the potion's purpose...they were being crystalized!  
  
A dark purple crystal had already formed around Sleet, encasing him in near-cone-shaped crystal. He was completely immobilized.  
  
Screech tried to take to the air...just as a tentacle of the cloud pulled her down and crystalized her!  
  
Magmus and Dingo were next, encasing them both.  
  
Blue Fang, with the forming crystal creeping up her torso, angrily turned towards John and said, "Curse you! CURSE YOU, ENFOR-***" She was now completely encased, looking like she was caught in the midst of yelling at him.  
  
John and his friends approached their crystalized foes once the cloud had vanished. John knocked on the crystal containing Dingo and Magmus. "Heavy, hit this with your vibrohammer." John requested.  
  
Heavy pulled it out and made it hit the crystal repeatedly...not even so much as a dent! "Interesting. It seems that this crystal is impenetrable." Heavy said.  
  
Adonna-Lyn smiled a bit weakly, saying, "It's over. Our war with the Order of Darkness is over."  
  
John activated a communicator and got Charmy on it. "Hey, John! Is the whole gang there?" Charmy asked.  
  
"Yeah. Mission accomplished. We've driven the Dark Legion back to the dimension which they were banished to, and the Order of Darkness is imprisoned in some sort of invulnerable crystal." John answered.  
  
"Cool. Just got this in. A capture warrant and 50 thousand reward has been offered for the arrest or death of Blue Fang and her cronies. Seems they've been responsible for the deaths of several echidna youths in Echidnopolis." Charmy said.  
  
John said, "Really? Well, we're going to have to insist that these rogues are deposited at the Devil's Gulag."  
  
The Devil's Gulag was a maximum security prison in the midst of the Eastern Mobian Ocean. It stood at the top of a high mountain crag, and escape was practically impossible. A perfect place for these people who had tormented John and his friends.  
  
John looked over to Dave and his remaining Jedi. It was a sad thing. Of the original experienced 52 (including Dave and Hanako) Jedi that entered this battle, now, only Dave, Hanako, Kenny and 10 Jedi remained. "Dave...I thank you for your assistance in this battle...and I am sorry for the losses you have suffered today." he said as he put his hand on his shoulder.  
  
Dave smiled a bit, though, and replied, "They fought to protect Mobius from a horror that would have engulfed this planet in war. They gave their lives...so that peace could be maintained. They died in the best tradition of the Jedi."  
  
"Yeah...but we're going to have one HELL of a Jedi pyre." Kenny remarked.  
  
EPILOGUE...  
  
Chandral, 12:07 AM...  
  
"Oh, good golly...Jirrard's dead. Kirana-Fel is going to kill us." Tanikai repeated for the 57th time as he and Kazuna walked down a hallway in a palace somewhere on Adonna-Lyn's homeworld of Chandral.  
  
"For the 57th time, Tanikai, she's not going to kill us. We have proven to be a valuable asset to her Highness...besides, she won't kill us. She's not THAT NICE." Kazuna said, "Now keep your mouth shut unless she requests you to speak!"  
  
They entered a darkened room, where an echidna form, a female, sat cross-legged in a meditative stance. The two ninja-garbed Chandralites got down on one knee before the female.  
  
"Well?" the female echidna asked.  
  
"We warned both of them, my lady, even threatening one of them to see our point of view...sadly, Jirrard still pursued that infernal Adonna-Lyn...and he has paid the ultimate price for his stubborn lust." Kazuna answered.  
  
"He is dead then..." the female said while bowing her head down, "And his killer?"  
  
"Alive, as well as the royal brat." Kazuna answered, "And it is strange that this one of darkness would one of the destined two."  
  
"Leave me at once." the female requested, holding back the tears that were fighting to get out.  
  
"Immediately, your Highness." Kazuna acknowledged as she and Tanikai left the room.  
  
"Well, we got off pretty easy." Tanikai said to his partner...just as several throwing daggers pierced through the ornate wall.  
  
"We had better go." Kazuna said, "For the one called the Enforcer, a storm is swiftly coming...and vengence shall come on swift wings for Adonna-Lyn."  
  
  
  
The End......?  
  
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COPYRIGHTS  
  
John the Enforcer, Adonna-Lyn, Neela, Blue Fang, and all such characters and things are copyright of John Fadeley.  
  
Dave the Hedgehog, Kenny the Vampire Bat, and Tina-Arachnia are copyright of David Fadeley.  
  
Neon Dragon, Zefer, Caylis, Magmus, Rieko, Hyro, and the world of Detrossa and its peoples are copyright of Emma Goodman.  
  
Hanako Fairhall is copyright of Hannah Lupton  
  
Mobius and its peoples are copyright of Sega, Sonic Team, Archie Comics and DiC.  
  
Star Wars characters, places, and things are copyright of 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm  
  
The last fight between John and the Enforcer was inspired by Gollum/Smeagol in "The Two Towers", copyright of New Line Cinemas and J.R.R. Tolkien.  
  
Everything else is copyright of their owners.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
SPECIAL THANKS!  
  
First and foremost, I thank you, Emma Goodman, for doing artwork that has helped to inspire the actions and flow of "The Enforcer Saga" and I thank you for your permission in using your characters and world in my fanfiction. I will enjoy featuring your characters in chapters to come. You are the best, Emma! ^.~*  
  
To Hannah Lupton: I thank you for your artwork that has also helped to inspire this work and others to come and for the use of your character. Keep up your talent for artwork. Someday, it will greatly pay off.  
  
To David Fadeley: I thank you, brother, for being there when I needed support and encouragement to keep going through the worst of times, as many of our on-line friends have done.  
  
To the major media companies: I thank you again for the work you have done to help inspire this work. May you continue to capture the imagination of generations to come.  
  
To the Almighty: I thank you once again, God, for nothing is possible without you. You have given such great talent to me and those who have helped inspire my work through their own. Please be with us all as we continue our quest for peace in this world.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
With the Order of Darkness gone for good, the crew of Floating Island Central Command can sleep a little easier...but a distress call from Mobius' neighboring world of Chandral calls them to action once more...will they be ready for the challenges that lie ahead?  
  
Find out in "The Enforcer Saga, Chapter 10: When Shadows Attack." Don't miss it! 


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